Dualscar and Vriska: The Forbidden Ship
by VriskaTheQueen8itch
Summary: This story is a little bit of everything, revolving around my otp, this isn't just mushy romance and smut, there will be darker themes in this such as gore, abuse, and detailed horrific scenes. Everyone is alive /for now/ (even ancestors) No sburb AU. Vriska set out on the seas to start an adventure with her Ancestor Mindfang but what she found was betrayal and an unlikely friend.
1. Chapter 1

Dualscar and Vriska:

The Forbidden Ship

- VriskaTheQueen8itch Tumblr

Chapter 1

Left 8ehind

"Wwhat the fuck is wwrong wwith you? You are gonna get yourself culled, Vvris," Eridan Ampora scoffed looking at his black mate before him.

It was a warm day in the middle of the sixth perigree and the two trolls met up on a dock looking out over the Alternian ocean. Vriska Serket, who was now at the age of ten sweeps and was dressed in a black tank top and jeans, her long black hair tied back in a braid. Today, she was setting out on a mission to join the crew of her ancestor, Mindfang, so she could become a real pirate like she had always wanted. Eridan, did not like this frankly. Sure, she was his kismesis but that didn't mean he didn't care about the crazy cerulean bitch.

"Eridan, I know what I am doing! I am the 8est and have the gr8est luck out of everyone!" she laughed with her hands on her hips.

"You are seriously goin after her?" he sighed squeezing the bridge of his nose under his glasses in a fit of stress.

"Yes! I already said I was, Fishdick," she scoffed crossing her arms.

"That's fuckin stupid," he muttered rolling his eyes.

"Oh fuck you….." she scoffed.

"You already have. Wwant me now?" he chuckled softly raising a suggestive eyebrow.

"You would like that wouldn't you?" she said with a cocky smirk.

"Yeah yeah… You wwill be careful right? I mean as your kismesis, I need you to not do any stupid shit. I need you to come back, you're my only quadrant…." he sighs.

" Awwwwwwww how sweet," she laughed.

"Pfft….You wwill come back right?" he mumbled twiddling his fingers.

"Going to miss me?" she said with a smirk.

"Shut up" he hissed.

Vriska sighed and looked up at Eridan. She had an old tattered bag slung over her shoulder, it was fully packed. In her hand she held the journal of the Marquise, Mindfang. Many called her a demon of the seas, Vriska proudly called her Ancestor.

"I will be 8ack, Eridan. Who else is going to pail you out of h8?" she said with her classic snaky Vriska smirk.

"Wwho wwill pail you in general?" Eridan scoffed.

"Okay then. 8ye. Never see you again," she replied turning her back to the violet blood.

"Vvris, good luck. Okay? I can't havve you dying or nothing," he groaned grabbing her shoulder.

She turned her head glancing over her shoulder at him. The cool sea breeze blew her hair around like spider's silk. Through her glasses she had a confident look in her asymmetrical eyes.

"Luck? I am a Serket remem8er? I'm all a8out luck!" she boasted.

She hopped down off the dock into a small boat that was floating in the water. It was a small boat with a motor; she borrowed it, and by borrow, she stole it for those too incompetent to get that joke, because she is a fucking Serket, and they don't borrow shit. She pull started the small motor engine on the boat, getting the motor to hum, and the water swirling around the spinning blades of the propeller to bubble.

Eridan chuckled at her, but it was a somber sort of chuckle. "Yeah I knoww, Vvris."

The violet blood didn't exactly like the idea of her leaving to go off on some crazy ancestor hunt. Sure, she was his kismesis but that didn't mean she couldn't be someone he cared about, and the thought of her getting hurt or dying made his fins droop slightly. He sighed softly as she drifted off into the sea, she was a soon fading black dot on the line where the deep blue met the sky's pink hue.

"Crazy bitch," he sighed to himself.

Ever since she was a small wriggler she had wanted this. Ever since she got Mindfang's journal, she had a burning flame of passion that fuelled her actions. Being a pirate was the life she had always wanted, and being a pirate on Mindfang's ship made that dream even better. No laws, power, riches, independence, freedom….. It was perfect! Plus she always did love that big blue ocean, it was as blue as the blood that ran through her veins. When she was younger, she always found herself staring out at the sea, when dealing with troubles. It was a mystery and it held countless adventures. She knew the ocean was were she belong, and a small part of her believe she should have been a sea dweller, but that was just a small part.

Now at this age of ten sweeps her dream was finally coming into fruition. She just needed to find Mindfang and have her take Vriska into her web. And why wouldn't she do that? She was her descendent.

Vriska had tried her best to have her life to play out like Mindfang's from what she read from the elder Serket's journal. She even managed to get an Ampora for a kismesissitude, she figured that it was destiny for Amporas and Serkets to always be black. She was lucky enough to have that fool Eridan be in a black rom with her, he mainly agreed because he was desperate and he constantly visited her, demanding her to build weaponry for him, he thought why not get some ass out of the visits. He was more than happy to indulge and 'act out' the more intimate parts of the journal. They generally had these role plays when they did their black rom pailing sessions; she would be dressed in her Mindfang cosplay and him dressed as Mindfang's kismesis and his ancestor, Dualscar.

Weeks pass and Vriska, unfortunately, had no luck in finding whom she was seeking. She stopped at small fishing villages, to ask locals if there have been any sightings of that great pirate woman or her ship. Again, no luck, now this was very un-Serket like and Vriska was not like this at all. That was until one evening in the eighth week of her travels.

She had stopped at a small dockside of a floating harbor village, due to the need of supplies and rest. To be entirely honest, as much as she loved the seas, sleeping out on a shitty dingy that thrashed around in the waves like a feather in the wind was far from comfortable, and far from safe. Some nights, she would find herself with wide eyes as she could hear the monstrous noises of enormous lusii swimming just below her vessel, and becoming a meal for some parental beast was not a part of her dream, and hopefully never will be, she spent most of her life avoiding being eaten by her own horrific lusus. The last thing she needed was some gigantic lusus pulling her, and her small boat, down into the cold darkness of the depths.

She was staying in a small inn that over looked the sea, she got a nice enough little room, it had a rope hammock, wooden desk, and a window with a view of the docks and sea. That evening as she was bedding down in her hammock she heard a loud boom of a cannon going off, followed by the destructive sounds of a building bursting into rubble and the screams of pedestrians. She quickly got up to the sounds of terror and grabbed her glasses of the desk putting them on a bit groggy-like as she made her way to the window. She gazed out it, unamused at first before her eyes widened at the sight she saw.

A large pirate ship was stopped in the harbor, swarms of criminals flooding out into the streets terrorizing the locals and looting whatever building they saw. A sly fanged smile crossed Vriska's face. She recognized that flag with the distinct eight pupil jolly roger as it blew about violently in the sea wind. The ship was just as familiar, it was familiar down to every detail written in twisted words composed of that cerulean blue ink she read off the yellow tinted pages of the aged journal. The one thing that was a dead ringer that this was the ship she was looking for was the silhouette of a tall ominous figure of a demon like woman standing on the bow of the ship.

She quickly pulled on her jeans, for she was only in her panties and her tank top, and grabbed her bag running out the door in urgency. Most of the pirate woman's cronies were too busy pillaging and raping to notice the young Serket girl running towards the ship. The demon woman looked down at the girl jumping down off the bow landing before her. There was a sharp click of metal as her heels hit the stone ground. She was about to unsheathe her cobalt blue steel sword and slice the girl where she stood before smirking at the young girl.

"Well well, fuck me in the key hole. Looks like my young wriggler found her way in my we8…" she cackled.

Her voice was dark and twisted in an enjoyable way, like the shrill hiss of winds of a storm. She was shrouded in an armored dress of black and blue and metal soled heeled boots the color of a mutant's candy blood. Her hair was untamed and wind whipped, for the hardships the sea bestowed upon it.

"Come on girl! Let us go!" she said with a wicked laugh as she patted Vriska on her shoulder.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Trapped in Paradise

"And this is going to 8e yer room," Mindfang stated showing Vriska a dinghy storage closet.

When Vriska made her way on the ship, she saw it as a paradise, it was a massive beautiful nautical vessel of power, or at least the outside appeared that way. As Mindfang proceeded to show the mini Serket below deck, Vriska saw that those nice looks were only on the outside. Below the deck there was a different aura composed of a darkness only found in nightmares and a grotesque impending doom. Spider webs covered the ceiling like a thick blanket of snow, roaches were stuck inside squirming and struggling for freedom as spiders approached them, gouging them open and eating out their insides. Though the spiders didn't bother Vriska much, the strange feeling of death did. She just shrugged it off though, it would be alright, nothing bad would happen to her as long as Mindfang was with her.

When Vriska arrived at her new sleeping quarters, her hopeful smile faltered slightly. The closet was no more than six feet long and six feet wide, plus half the room was filled with clean supplies and crates that had a few rats gnawing away at them with their disgusting yellowed fangs. Vriska raised an eyebrow before just smiling weakly at Mindfang.

"Thanks…" she mumbled softly.

"Yeah whatever ye are going to need is in that room. I 8e needing some lu88er to mop me ship, make it nice and clean," Mindfang laughed evily, a wide grin crossing her blue tainted lips.

"Mindfang….. I came here to sail 8y your side …. Not to clean yer ship…" she mumbled with a disappointed expression plastered on her face.

"Sail? With me? Don't make me laugh! Girl, ye 8e too shrimpy to 8e a true seafaring lass like me. I only decided to keep you around to do 8ilge rat work," she chuckled in amusement at the girls foolish dreams.

Vriska frowned feeling hurt by Mindfang's words. "I am no shrimp….. I … I can hold my own. I made sure that I could do everything I could to impress you. I got your journal and everything."

"Oh yea?" Mindfang scoffed leaning in getting up in Vriska's face. "Tell me, Lu88er. What have ye done?" she hissed, words thick with poison.

Vriska leaned her head back slightly intimidated by her cold ancestor. "I… I have killed countless trolls to feed my lusus… I 8linded my close friend… paralyzed another 8y pushing him off a cliff …. And I controlled a honey 8lood into killing his m8sprit…"

Mindfang yawned utterly uninterested by the girl's desperate attempt to impress her. "That is all?…. I really should just toss ye over8oard…. 8ut… we are 8lood ….. And I need a deck hand. I will give ye eight minutes to get situ8ed, then ye will 8e off to cleaning me deck!"

Mindfang walked off with a swagger her scarlet heels clicking on the wooden floor as she laughed maniacally. Vriska sighed sitting down on a crate, that wasn't being eaten by rats, and looked down at the elder Serket's journal. She teared up some, this was not what she expected, Mindfang was suppose to accept her. She growled wiping her tears, she could prove herself to Mindfang, make her see that she would be a good pirate. She stood up putting the journal in her bag, which she hung up so the rats couldn't get it, and grabbed some cleaning supplies. Time to scrub a fucking deck.

Hours go by as she scrubbed that entire deck, sweat trickled down her form, the knees in her jeans got worn out and blisters began forming on her hands. The whole time the crew members, who were in fact all male, whistled and cat called at her with wide hungry grins. A few of the males came up behind her and groped and smacked her rear. At that point she growled throwing the scrubber on the ground and marching down below deck to the captain's quarters. All the men continued to holler at her, teasing her, as they watched her rear as she walked. Vriska banged on the door with an angry blistered fist.

"WHAT?!" yelled the vile woman as she slammed open the door.

"I. Cleaned. Your. Fucking. Deck." Vriska snarled glaring into Mindfang's eyes with intensity and anger.

"Awww good girl! Ye look upset…. Something trou8ling ye?" Mindfang asked in a soft yet obviously mocking and sarcastic tone.

"Can you tell YOUR crew to 8ack off?" she hissed.

"Hmmmmmmmm, No. Ye 8e a 8ig girl, do it yerself. Look at me. I am the only female on this ship and I managed to train those fucking men like ponies at a circus….. Figure it out for yerself!" Mindfang stated with not even the slightest hint of compassion in her tone.

Vriska furrowed her eyebrows as she did a look over on Mindfang. She had just noticed that Mindfang was not dressed in her usual seafaring attire, but something that resembled a lingerie gown that would be found on the corpse of a strunged out young stripper. Vriska's glances passed the alpha Serket and into the room behind her. She saw a longed horned male laying down on a pailing platform in a drunken stupor. Of course, that guy, The Summoner. Vriska figured that he probably flew aboard the ship when no one was looking with those ridiculous transparent burnt orange fairy wings of his.

Vriska's face flattened, not wanting to deal with Mindfang anymore at the moment and she sighed. "Anything else you want done, 'Captain'?"

"Yeah… Do me a favor and GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY FACE!" The wicked bitch yelled slamming the door shut.

The young cerulean blood sighed, when she started this journey being despised by her Ancestor was not on the agenda. Hearing her stomach emit a low rumbled growl, she decided to search around for the galley to scrounge around for something to gnaw on. She soon finally found the blasted place, grimy and filled with scattering cockroaches, figures. She could feel the presence of two men in the room, but she did her best to ignore their existence at the moment.

She looked around on a nearby wooden counter and found a bowl with recently rotting fruit. She sighed digging through the bowl, pulling out a bruised apple, she supposed this was better than nothing. As she did her scavenging for food, she could feel the hungry stares of the slowly approaching men. She took a bite of the bruised apple, having her back turned to the men. She heard a creak of wood underfoot right behind her, she turned tensing up at the sight of two animalistic males right up in her face.

One of the males was a large burly scarred up fellow, his right eye was stitched shut and a jagged vertical scar over his lips. The larger male had gazelle like horns, the right one being broken off only five inches from the base of his scalp and short hair that faded into a short thin beard. The other male was a sickly thin, sketchy bilge rat looking man, with greasy hair dangling in his face. His horns and fangs were twisted and distorted, and he had long sharp needle like claws. She recognized the bilge rat as one of the culprits who smacked her ass when she was scrubbing the deck. Both of the males were dressed in tattered clothes composed of black short sleeved tunics with Mindfang's symbol on them, pants that were worn to hell and filthy boots.

"Um….. Can I help you?" Vriska asked a bit nervously as she analyzed the two trolls.

"Ye sure are a purdy one, ye will suffice," the bilge rat stated with a smirk running his claws on his right hand over her cheek, blue streaks of torn flesh appeared on her cheek.

Vriska backed up, her back hitting against the counter, as she saw the two males grow wicked grins and hungry expressions. She gripped the bruised apple in her hand, the sticky fruit juice coating her palm. She did not like this, the two stepped closer, she didn't like this at all.

"Aw relax sweet cheeks….. Everythin' will be better if ye just relax," the bilge rat snickered running a hand through the side of her hair.

The larger male just grinned and nodded, making pleased growls as the bilge rat messed with Vriska. Vriska noticed that the larger troll, was lacking a tongue which explained why he wasn't talking. The sketchy troll pressed his body against Vriska's, making her be pinned against the counter.

"Just relax…. And it will all be over before ye know it….." he snickered leaning in to kiss her on her blue colored lips.

Vriska snarled taking the hand with the apple in it and smashing it against the side of his head. Chunks of bruised apple flew onto the ground, while a majority was splattered on the bilge rats head. He backed up some growling, Vriska took this opportunity to run towards the door, her breath hitched in fear as she ran. The burly troll ran after her and tackled her to the ground, like a predator and it's prey. With a twisted look the bilge rat walked up to her, looking down at her with a smugly pleased look in his eyes.

"Ye should of just relaxed…." he sighed shaking his head.

She was shifted to be facing up so she could look up at the sketchy crew member, by the burly troll. She grit her teeth struggling to get free, but the other had her arms pinned behind her back and he was to strong for her. The beat of her blood pusher was rapid now and her eyes were wide as the bilge rat leaned in and reached for his own pants.

After a bit the two trolls exit the galley with content smirks on their faces, and laughs could be heard from them as they made their way down the hall. Vriska was laying on the cold wooden floor of the galley, battered and bruised a dark cerulean hue. Blood was running down the side of her face from a busted lip she had obtained from struggling during the ordeal. Slowly she stood, her legs trembling violently, and began to walk. There was a sharp hiss of pain as she tried to walk, but through will power she pushed through it and made her way out of the galley.

Vriska painfully limped down the hall until she reached the Captain's quarters. She hesitated for a bit, just standing there trembling in front of the door before knocking on it. Her knocks were weak and pathetic, due to the fact her hands wouldn't stop shaking. The door slammed open after a few seconds being greeted by the wicked elder Serket, who had a far from happy expression on her face.

"WHAT!?" the evil woman yelled at her wounded descendent.

The older woman's face softened from anger to curiosity as she analyzed her descendant's current state. Vriska's clothes were torn and dirty, stained in her blood and other fluids those 'lovely gentlemen' bestowed upon her. Her cheek was swollen from being slapped and hit, while the side of her mouth had claw marks over it from having a hand over it to muffle the pleas of help she tried to emit. Her blood colored tears were starting to swell up in her eyes, and were soon over flowing. Her once proud confident person was now reduced to a feeble tremble girl.

"What happened to ye?" Mindfang asked in a soft yet uncaring tone.

"M-Mindfang…. Y-your crew…. They….they," she started to sob unable to finish her statement.

"They what?" she asked sneering at the crying girl.

"They took advantage of me!" Vriska whimpered.

"Oh really now? That is quite unfortun8 …" she replied still not showing any sighs of being concerned about Vriska's well being.

"A-aren't you g-going to do anything!?" Vriska cried still shaking.

"No. Ye should of not tempted them. Ye should of made yerself look undesirable…." Mindfang hissed.

"D-don't you even c-care? M-Mindfang…. I … I am y-your descendent …. W-we… We are 8lood…" she muttered her tears streaming down her face.

Mindfang's nose scrunched at the word descendent, causing her to lean down glaring at Vriska with a low hate filled growl. "Listen here! Ye. Ye are a very stupid girl. Ye came here thinking that 8eing a pir8 would 8e all fun and games. Ye thought ye could be as gr8 as me….. Well let me tell ye something…." She leans in growling into Vriska's ear. "No matter what ye do in life… ye will always 8e nothing…." she whispered in her ear with words that stung like black widow venom.

She leaned back crossing her arms glaring hateful daggers down at Vriska. Just then there was the steps of someone approaching the two Serkets from the halls. It was the bilge rat, smirking wide filled with pride as he stepped up beside Vriska, wrapping an arm around her. He pressed his nose into her hair smelling her scent before he turned to grin at Mindfang.

"Oi Captain, I got to thank ye for the entertainment ye brought on board. Ye sure know how to please yer crew, this little beauty feels great," he laughed smacking Vriska on the rear.

Vriska trembled violently looking at Mindfang frightened, her eyes were pleading. The bilge rat groped at Vriska chuckling darkly as he watched her shake like a leaf stuck in a thunder storm. He smacked her ass again watching her jump on impact; Mindfang leaned against the door frame chuckling some.

"Anything for me crew, need to show ye all that I know how to take care of ye. I knew ye would enjoy her," Mindfang replied in a proudly smug voice.

Vriska looked at Mindfang shocked, "W-what are you talking a8out?"

The bilge rat grinned laughing loudly, "Oh she didn't tell ye?"

"T-tell me what?" Vriska whimpered.

Mindfang sighed before smirking, "Guess it is time ye know the real reason I 8rought ye a8oard. Ye see, men grow irrita8le and have urges that get pent up when ye stick 'em all out on a 8oat together. It was a8out time I 8rought some 'womanly entertainment' a8oard for 'em. When I saw ye at that har8or I knew ye'd 8e perfect."

Vriska's eyes widened at this and her shaking stopped as she grew into a petrified state of shock. "You 8rought me on 8oard to 8e a plaything for your crew?"

"That's right!" the bilge rat said grinning wide.

"Oh Vriska, I see ye have gotten well acquainted me first m8, ye listen to his orders when I am not around. Now leave me alone….. And stop crying like a fucking gru8," Mindfang stated coldly turning and going back in her room, closing the door with a loud slam.

The first mate patted Vriska on the rear, "We will be getting to know each other very well from now on."

Vriska grit her teeth and violently ripped away from the first mate. She began running as fast as she could away from him, and Mindfang's room. Cerulean tears flew from her face as she ran, her feet making loud thumps with each forceful step she took. This wasn't suppose to happen! Mindfang was suppose to love her, take her as her apprentice, guide her into becoming a great pirate. The woman Vriska had spent her life idolizing was an utter monster. The woman who was her ancestor, was a fucking demon.

The first mate laugh watching Vriska, "Where are ye goin' to run to Vriska? Ye be on a ship!"

She sighs going into the galley again, in search of something to wash down her pain. Bile rose in her throat as she saw stains of her own blood, along with clumps of her hair, on the ground. She closed her eyes tightly trying her best to hold back the tears that were trying to form again. She opened them again, a blurry gaze landing over on a bottle of rum. She wiped her wet eyes from under her glasses and walked over to the rum. She grabbed it gazing at it with a somber yet somehow blank expression.

She took the bottle of rum back to her 'room' with her. She stepped on the tail of a rat, making it let out a painful screech like squeal as she made way inside the storage closet. She took a seat on one of the crates and looked at the bottle of rum again slowly opening it up with her blistered and bruised hand. She deserved a fucking drink, she took a big swig of the liquid. Her nose scrunched at the foul taste and at the way it burned her throat, she wanted to puke it up but she swallowed it. She took another swig, repeating the process, until the bottle was drained of all it's contents. Even though she drank an entire bottle of strong rum, she strangely enough couldn't get a wink of sleep that night. She just leaned against the crates, listening to the rats gnaw on whatever they were near, and watching roaches struggle to get free from a giant spider's venomous grip.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Adaptation

It has been a sweep since Vriska discovered the gruesome truth behind the reason she was brought aboard the Marquise's ship. Conditions didn't improve, yet only grew worse for her. What she once sought out for as a paradise was now a hell incarnate for Vriska Serket. Serket, she use to be so proud to have that name, because she thought it was derived from a great being she was blessed to be related to. Everything she thought was true was a load of utter bull shit. She was just a foolish girl with foolish dreams, that would NEVER come true, and now her stupid dreams landed her as a slave to a crew of disgusting depraved men and a horrible evil woman who she dreaded to call her Ancestor.

The crew was more than cruel to her, and wouldn't let up with their harassment. She wasn't even seen as a person anymore by them, she was just an object used for the cheap entertainment whenever they felt urges kick in. When she walked passed one of them they would grab at her and call out derogatory lewd statements. They all grinned and laughed at her, mainly because they knew she was utterly helpless and there was nothing she could do to stop them from messing with her.

Mindfang's first mate was the most cruel out of all of the crew members. He took the liberty as claiming Vriska as his own, he just allowed the other crew members to mess with her. He went around doing his best to humiliate the poor girl whenever an opportunity opened up. She was once carrying a container full of soapy water to clean the deck with, and he thought it would be humorous push her down causing the water to spill all over her, which made her clothes cling to her body and her shiver at the coldness. Most nights he made her sleep with him in his room, being first mate he got his own private room but it was nothing great, it just gave him a place to be alone with her.

Then there was Mindfang, the one Vriska despised most of all on the ship. That woman, that woman Vriska loved most in all of Alternia, had twisted, distorted, and broke Vriska's heart. Mindfang gave Vriska the hardest tasks she could find and when she didn't do a good enough job that sufficed to the evil Serket's expectations, she punished and abused the younger girl. The poor girl doubt she could ever feel trust towards anyone again, not after how her Ancestor destroyed her pride.

Vriska now felt a dreaded loneliness that left a coldness inside her like none other. She missed her hive with her pet spiders and Nicolas Cage movies. She missed the comfort and safety of her recrupricoon. She missed a smile that wasn't wicked with twisted meaning behind it, but one that was genuine and heart warming. She missed the faces and voices of her friends. She probably missed Eridan most of all, surprisingly, although they hated each other at times he was the only one who gave her the time of day, plus he is probably the only one who missed her back.

Vriska just wanted to get off this terrible ship, she wanted to go to her hive and forget any of this ever happened. She wanted to escape the clutches of Mindfang and mend the wounds she had obtained here. She wanted to return to the place she called home, return to the land where she felt safer. Once there, she knew she had to apologize to all the people she hurt because of her need to impress this terrible woman. Every time she had any of these thoughts, she teared up some, she wasn't allowed to leave, Mindfang wouldn't let her.

Vriska had tried to escape from the web of the dastardly woman who plagued her life, but it was no use. Whenever Mindfang had to dock her ship, for a supply run or to pillage villages and ruin the lives of poor souls, she locked Vriska up in a cell that was used for prisoners. The little Serket had thought about jumping overboard but those thoughts went away after realizing walking to shore from the middle of the ocean wasn't the best plan. She had also known the feeling of being over board, and it was not a nice feeling. One of Mindfang's punishments was to toss Vriska overboard by the horn, the poor girl would cling to the side of the ship with her claws summoning all her strength to climb aboard deck. Not being provided fresh clothes, she was forced to shiver and freeze, those were not fun times, then again nothing was fun here.

On board the ship of hell, Vriska turned to drinking to calm her nerves, and heart ache. Whenever she saw a bottle with in reach she would snatch it up, sure that was risky, but thievery was a great talent of hers, so she managed to get drinks without being caught. The hardships Vriska endured pushed her into being an alcoholic, it was the only way she continue doing any of the horrid tasks she was faced with.

Along with drinking, Vriska found another way to ease her nerves and heart. Tobacco. Being on a ship, tobacco was a common thing found, due to the fact that Mindfang and her pirates looted a lot of cargo ships that carried common imports and exports, such as tobacco. When she first got her hands on a hand rolled tobacco filled cigarette, which she snagged off the first mate after he fell asleep, she was eager to smoke it. After she finally found herself alone, she put it too her lips and lit it, followed by a deep inhale and a brutal coughing session. That was foul and she wanted to puke but she also wanted to, strangely, smoke more, so she tried it again. After a few more inhales and exhales, the smoke soon filled her lungs smoothly and puffs of smoke gracefully exited her lips. She was soon sneaking the tobacco left and right, rolling her own cigarettes and smoking them to nothing.

Hope was a fallacy upon this ship because when things appeared to be turning around for the better there would be some wicked twisted omen shattering all pleasant expectations. One day in the middle of the sweep, The Marquise's ship and some military ship were at battle, and the members of the two ships were boarding each other. Vriska was below deck in a cell, Mindfang had locked her up there for safe keeping, when a military officer ran down into the cell room. Vriska looked at him with pleading eyes, asking for his help and telling him the horrors she had faced. The man took pity on her breaking open the cell and hurrying his way on deck to take her on his ship, so he could get her away from the madness. Just as they got to the bridge where the two ships met, a cobalt blue steel sword busted through the man's chest. Indigo blood from the military man splattered on Vriska as she watched him collapse to his knees, lifeless. Vriska stared at the man's impaled corpse then up in terror, seeing the twisted grin of Mindfang holding the indigo blood covered sword. The young girl trembled in fear as she was yanked by the horn and tossed back below deck.

It was far from a pleasant life she currently had so she learned to adapt with the challenges she was forced to face. She cut her hair to just below her shoulder blades and kept it tied up in a braid so it wasn't easy for the crew members to grab. Her clothes, which were now composed of knee length blue jean shorts and a short filthy tank top, were constantly getting torn up whether it be from hard work, or the crew members' harassment so she had to learn how to sew so they wouldn't get reduced to tattered rags. She was a thin frail girl who got under fed by Mindfang so she began rationing and hiding her food so she wouldn't starve out. It wasn't easy, and their were days where she wanted to give up but she knew she could push through this, she couldn't give up on her quest for freedom.

Today, only a few days after being on the ship for an entire sweep, Vriska was doing one of her usual tasks of scrubbing the deck of the ship. Mindfang strolled out on the bow of the ship and up to her descendent, who sat up at the sound of the scarlet clicking heels. Vriska had a blank emotionless expression on her face as she looked into the heartless eyes of her ancestor. Along with her normal attire today, Mindfang had a large pirate hat on to shield herself from the harmful rays of the sun, that were burning Vriska.

"Heh, me deck 8etter 8e clean," Mindfang hissed.

Vriska rolled her eyes and went back to cleaning. With her eyes fixed on the floor and her blistered scrubbing hands she let out a sigh. She wasn't in the mood for any of this bull shit, then again Vriska never was, but today she was a little more irritable.

"Yes, Mindfang" she scoffed.

Mindfang snarled her lip looking down at Vriska, not appreciating the attitude. She kicked Vriska in the chest knocking her on her back so she could look at her face. She pressed her boot on top of one of Vriska's breasts just to agitate her and make her uncomfortable.

"One, its Captain. Two, you fucking look at me when I talk to you. Three, you give me that attitude again and I will end you!" she yelled.

Vriska coughed gazing up at Mindfang with weak eyes. She grabbed at her boot trying to pull it off her chest, for it hurt terribly. The yelling had attracted the attention of the crew who were now swarming around the scene like ants at a picnic.

"Yes Mi-… Captain…. Yes Captain," Vriska said with a soft sad sigh.

Mindfang laughed grabbing Vriska by the horn and hoisting her up off the ground. She began laughing maniacally shaking the young girl as if she were a flimsy rag doll. Vriska hissed in pain as she was dangling by the horn, her horn felt like it was about to snap off from her skull.

"So pathetic! What happened to that fire girl!? And ye use to think ye could 8e a pir8.…. Ye ain't shit girl!" Mindfang laughed.

Vriska's eye twitched some at those words in aggravation, she was about to snap. She had to hold it in, she had too. She just gazed into Mindfang's eyes with pity, but not pity for herself, pity for Mindfang. She pitied Mindfang, because she knew no matter what Mindfang did, she would always be a piece of living shit. Mindfang snarled seeing the pity and shook Vriska.

"What the fuck?! Why ye 8e looking at me like that?! Ye pity me, girl!" she yells slapping Vriska.

Vriska balled her fist and snarled, she snapped. Her fist was meeting Mindfang's jaw within seconds, knocking the sea bitch back making her hat fly off. Vriska fell to the ground but quickly stood up glaring down at Mindfang with hate. The crew, even Mindfang, were shocked and the ship was dead silent.

"Fuck. You. Bitch" Vriska said in a cold serious tone spitting on the evil woman.

Mindfang stood setting her jaw, which was already bruising, back into place. She tackled Vriska to the ground and began beating her senseless, cerulean blood splattering on the deck, along with a few teeth. Mindfang continued to punch Vriska, making her face bloody and bruised. The whole time the crew was yelling in hollering enjoying the squabble, but that was until Vriska's body grew limp and her eyes fell shut.

"Damn it! Captain stop!" her first mate yelled pulling Mindfang off the bloody girl.

Mindfang huffed wiping her cerulean covered hands off on her dress. She spit on the motionless girl and snarled. Her first mate grabbed Mindfang by the shoulders and shook her.

"Captain! What have ye done?! She's dead!" he yelled.

"The little 8itch hit me, she deserved it!" she screamed.

"Yeah I know but she was our only entertainment! We can't do anything with a broken corpse….." he snarled.

Mindfang pushed him off her and sighed, "I will get you some new entertainment."

She walked over to the body and picked it up by the horns dragging it to the edge of the ship. A trail of cerulean blood followed behind her as she pulled the body along. She snarled tossing it over board, watching it as it splashed into the deep blue before turning to face her crew.

"Everyone! 8ack to work!" she yelled picking up her hat and walking back below deck.

Vriska's eyes jolted open at the feel of cold water, and she thrashed her way to the surface. She gasped resurfacing in a splash of water, the caked blood from her face washing off, leaving only small diluted streams of cerulean from her cuts. She tasted the blood in her mouth and ran her tongue over the sensitive gums where she lost some teeth, at least eight of them, but luckily they would grow back. Her eyes looked around seeing nothing but blue, and a fading dot of black, which was Mindfang's ship.

Vriska sighed, closing her eyes and stopped wading water letting herself sink into the depths. She couldn't swim after the ship and there was not a speck of land in sight. She was going to die soon enough so why not end it now. Her eyes shot open though, she promised Eridan she was going to see him again, she had to try. Giving up was not the Vriska way. She resurfaced once more and began swimming as best as she could. She smiled softly, if she died, at least she could die a free woman.

Two days pass and Vriska was exhausted from swimming, and was near passing out. Her luck was turning though when she found a floating log just up ahead. She clings to it smiling, a log meant nearby land she thought and with that pleasant thought she passed out with her head on the soggy log and above water.

When she woke, it was night time, and she wasn't swaying to the rhythm of the ocean anymore, but instead, half her body was laying on soft grainy sand. She was ecstatic and began crawling, dragging her body ashore more so the ocean wouldn't wash her away. She kept crawling on the shore until her eyes landed on what appeared to be a boot, and she looked up to see an ominous standing over her.

"Shit….." she sighed.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rum8le Fish

The figure that stood over her was just a faded blur of violet purple and black, due to the fact she lost her glasses at her time in the ocean. The mysterious troll appeared to be holding a blue colored gun at her. She cowered against the sand as the figure reached out for her and lifted her head up by her hair. It growled analyzing her face, moving her head around violently with a yank of the wrist.

The figure was a man, and not just any man, but the Orphaner Dualscar himself, and he currently wasn't happy at the moment. What was SHE doing here?! He thought to himself. How dare that BITCH just show up out of nowhere! When he yanked the little Serket's head around, his expression softened from it's hateful anger. This in fact was not the Marquise, but what appeared to be a younger version of her who had softer features that had yet to be worn and twisted by sweeps of hatred and evilness. He looks over seeing she was pretty battered up, it was obvious she was beaten and this sparked his curiosity. He sighed flinging Ahab's crosshairs over his shoulder and hoisted the wounded girl up into his arms muscular arms bridal style, surprised to find she was just skin and bones. As he whisked her away to his ship Vriska passed out in his arms, still too exhausted to do anything.

When Vriska's eyelids finally flew open she found herself with a blanket over her laying on a padded mat on a wooden floor. She felt that the stinging pain from the wounds on her face strangely relived. She sat up looking around, with squinted eyes, everything was a blur and it only gave her a headache. One of the blurry figures moved towards her, crouching beside her.

"I see ye havwe awvaken, so I suppose that is good, but nowv I need to knowv wvho the cod ye are," the figure said in a cold stern voice.

Along with his cold tone, there was a hint of something Scottish, if that was a relevant place in Alternia, and he sounded like a not so ridiculously hilarious version of Sean Connery, but the Orphaner Fucking Dualscar had no fucking idea who that was and frankly he wouldn't give a fuck. Vriska had no idea who was talking to her, but the accent was slightly funny so it lightened her mood some. She squinted her eyes more trying to see who was beside her, she reached out touching his face, her finger tips landing on what felt like a jagged scar. He swatted his hand away lightly, raising his eyebrow in confusion.

"Oi! Don't do that! Wvhat be wvrong wvith ye?" he asked grabbing her chin and looking at her face. "Stop squintin' it be freakin' me out!"

"S-sorry, you are just a talking blur to me," she stated with a soft chuckle, finding this to be slightly amusing, she was also a bit delirious so that would explain her quirky attitude to the stranger.

He raised an eyebrow, "So ye wvear glasses?"

She nodded still squinting her eyes, with slight now frustration for her own pathetic blindness. Dualscar stood with a sigh walking over to his desk, and began rummaging through the contents of a drawer. He pulled out some old thin wire frame glasses, after licking his rugged thumb he shined up the lenses some. He walked back over to his battered visitor and slipped the glasses on to her face as gently as he could. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the new spectacles causing her to blink rapidly. She smiled softly looking at, what was hopefully, her savior before tensing up and cowering against the mat feeling almost paralyzed with fear that suddenly struck her heart like a knife.

"O-Orphaner….. W-what are you going to do to me?" she whimpered shaking slightly.

The Orphaner frightened her, after what she had experienced with Mindfang, she feared the worst from him. Also being a Serket, she expected him to be malicious towards her due to his hateful throes with her Ancestor. The large sea dweller furrowed his brows squeezing the bridge of his nose in slight irritation, was he that scary appearing? Well, the male did stand at six foot four, dressed in black and violet pin striped pants with fitted sleeveless armor that had a spiked collar attached to long cape with a tattered bottom that hung just above the floor. He had large thick thunder bolt shaped horns that were a darker yellow compared to a younger troll, and his sea dwelling ear fins were a bit rough having a few holes in them and they pierced with multiple earrings made from the finest gold. He had rugged facial features which were surprisingly handsome, when he wasn't making a menacing or irritated expression, and were they diagonally sliced with two parallel jagged scars that were tinted a mix of a dark grey and violet hue. His hair was black like any other trolls, with the exception of a few silver hairs peppering through it here and there, and he had a large streak of violet going through it, unlike just a patch which Eridan had. The man was obviously well built and quite muscular in his anatomy, yet he was also slimmer, due to his sea dwelling nature, so he didn't appear to be a meat head. All Vriska knew was he was he was far bigger than his much littler descendent and way more aggressive from what she had read and heard.

He stood looking over the cowering form before him, and let out a low agitated guttural growl causing the gills that lined the sides of his neck to flare out exposing the violet frilled slits that were hidden under the protective skin. He didn't mean to scare the poor girl like this, well not entirely he did want to strike slight fear, but he needed her to give the information he needed so his curiosity could be put to ease. He narrowed his eyes, Serkets shouldn't cower like this it was disgraceful to the linage of trolls that made grown men quiver in their boots with fear. Maybe she wasn't a Serket at all, he thought to himself before dismissing that idea when at he looked at her horns once more. She had to be a Serket, no one but Serkets had horns like that. He sighed, knowing he needed to calm the poor girl, he could tell she went to hell and back, and he wasn't a total dick to just treat her with a cold heartless demeanor.

"Look calm dowvn, I ain't gonna do anythin' to ye, wvell not until I find out wvho ye are. Just try to relax. I am just goin' to talk to ye, okay? Ye look like shit, wvell not as bad as I found ye, but still pretty shitty, and I knowv the ocean didn't inflect that kinda damage," he stated crossing his arms.

"Yeah but you are the Orphaner Dualscar, you aren't exactly… a merciful man," she replied avoiding direct eye contact with him.

He sighed walking over to his desk once more, picking up a bowl of soup from it. Once beside her again he crouched down handing it to her. She looked at him nervously cupping the bowl with both hands and looking down at the contents. It was a thick brown slosh that looked a lot like gravy and she could feel luke warm heat radiating through the bowl. She put the bowl to her lips and cautiously took a sip of the slosh, surprisingly it was good. She closed her eyes continuing to drink it, a few tears rolled down her cheeks her eyes still tightly shut. She hadn't tasted anything slightly good in a sweep, and she was starving.

" I had this ready for ye, for when ye wvoke," He took a seat by the mat watching the tears leak from her eyes, " So wvhat happened to ye?"

She slowly removed the bowl from her lips and her eyes slowly opened. There was a cold look of pure fear full hatred, a look that made even the Orphaner get an odd chill down his spine, that never happened to him. That was not the look of a young girl, that was a look that he had only seen once in the eyes of a vicious creature who was on the brink of death and had nothing left to lose, the creature that maimed him. He grew quite concerned, what happened to this girl? The look flashed out of her eyes and her expression turned into a depressing sadness.

"I left my life I had, seeking out a life that learned never existed. I was forced into cruel conditions on a ship that showed no kindness. I was made a toy by a crew of depraved disgusting men and I only was shown the worst of treatment," she sighed.

He furrowed his brows listening to her, "Well I see ye are a Serket…. If ye wvere stuck on some ship, I am surprised ole' Fang didn't find ye…."

She looked at him with cold eyes, "Mindfang was the captain of that ship…. She did this."

He looked at her shocked, which no one had ever made him feel. He knew Mindfang was a cold woman with an evil soul, but he had never expected that woman to hurt her own descendent. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a deep breath, if what she was saying was true he really needed to rethink his quadrant with that woman.

"This…. This is hard to believe. Fuck, I mean that fucking 'Grand Highblood' is kind to his owvn kin….. I knowv Mindfang is cruel but she isn't that cruel….. Right?" he asked looking into Vriska's eyes.

She nodded, "She laughed in my face after I told her, her first mate raped me."

His eyes widened, he could tell she was telling the truth from the unfaltering look in her eyes. He sighed running his hand through his hair once more making a few strands fall in his face. This was hard for him to take in, sure Mindfang was his kismesis but as taboo as it was for him to admit he had residual red feelings for that woman. As much as he enjoyed what he had for Mindfang, he didn't want to be with someone who let such a young girl, who was her descendent, get hurt by her own cruel hand, and then mock her for it. What he thought was an honorable woman, was just a lie, and that hurt him some.

"Fuck, I am sorry ye wvent though that, ye must really hate her, and not in the good wvay," he stated.

She only replied with a nod her eyes remaining in a cold somber state.

"So howv exactly did ye end out in the ocean?" he asked with a sighing through his gills causing them and his fins to flare out.

"She tossed me over after bashing my face in," she replied.

"Damn, I sawv yer wvounds, that's wvhat made me take ye in. I knewv ye wveren't some seafarer sent a drift. I also needed to see that ye weren't a threat, but it is apparent yer not," he stated.

He stood up taking the soup from her hands and setting it off to the side he then lightly grasped both of her hands making her rise to her feet. Her hands were so small compared to his larger ones, his fingers and wrists were cladded in the beautiful gold and jewels along with small jagged scars from battles and fights that marked his flesh. He gave her a charming smile and put a hand on her back leading her into a room, it was a bathroom, with a shower. Vriska's heart almost exploded with joy at the sight.

"The wvater is cold but it is better than nothing' and there is a robe ye can put on wvhen ye be done. Ye look miserable in those disgustin' rags. I wvill …uh…wvill let ye be nowv. I wvill be at my desk if ye need anything," he stated before walking back into his room closing the bathroom door to let her have her privacy.

He sat down at the large chair in front of his map covered desk. Damn, she looked a lot like Mindfang, and that concerned him honestly, what if she was a twisted mind game deceiver like that awful woman. He wasn't sure if he should be trusting this girl, but then again why would she lie about that. Once again he ran his hand through his hair, this was a common thing he did when he was stressed or worried. He shook his he head and began writing in his Captain's log, but that only lasted a brief moment. He couldn't help but stare at that bathroom door.  
>Hell, Vriska was ecstatic to feel that cold water run down her bruised supple nude form. It was the first actual bathing she had had in a sweep, and it felt incredible causing her to purr loudly. All the sweat, salt, and blood washed off her body leaving her feeling refreshed. The cold water was making her shiver like crazy though, but being clean was worth the cold. After nearly an hour of washing she soon stepped out of the shower looking at her old discarded clothes in a pile on the floor. She crouched down and dug her hand around in her pants pulling out Mindfang's journal. She kept it in the back of her pants to keep sweat from rolling down into her butt crack when she was doing hard manual labor, as disgusting as that was, but no one wants a sweaty butt crack. She sighed looking at that journal, the pages were all wavy and shriveled from being soaked in water. Once she dressed in his fine silk robe, she tucked the journal into the top half between her breasts, she would hold onto this a little longer. She combed her fingers through her hair making it not tangled before she stepped out into Dualscar's room.<p>

"Better?" he asked.

"Y-yeah…" she said with chattering teeth.

"Here," he got up and threw a blanket at her.

"Th-thanks," she stated wrapping herself tightly in it.

Vriska looked around his room, now actually having time to analyze it, it was actually quite nice and fancy. He had a large wardrobe off in the corner, by the door that lead out into the hall. His desk was on an adjacent wall to that where the door to his private bathroom was. One of the walls was a giant bookshelf filled with a countless number of books, scrolls and maps. Another one of the walls was a giant window, that looked out at the sea, she was able to tell his room was in the back of the ship from the large wake that was in view when gazing at the sea. The floor had a large furry lusus skin rug of some sort that laid out on the floor by the foot of a large human bed. She furrowed her brows at the bed.

"You like human culture?" she asked looking over at him.

"No, not really but I do like howv they make them sleeping devices. I had one specialty made for me, I lovwe the comfort," he chuckled scratching behind one of his fins.

"So lass, I don't exactly like havwing guests on me ship…. I am not makin' port for a long time and I can't havwe ye just layin' around like a bum and wvastin' space. I wvill allowv ye to stay only on the condition ye wvork on me ship, and if ye do that, I wvill respect ye as a member on me crewv…." he stated looking down at her with serious eyes.

" I….. I owe you my life…. So I guess I can work on your ship until you make port, then I will go my own way from there," she said with a soft yet cautious tone.

"Okay, but if there is any funny business I wvon't hesitate to throw ye overboard and let ye join the ocean once more. Unlike Mindfang, I don't play games, understood?" he said remaining his stern composure.

"Yes…" she muttered nervously.

He smirked walking up to her putting a hand on his shoulder, his other hand grabbing her chin making her look into his eyes. "I knowv she and her crewv hurt ye, but as long as ye respect me and me ship, I wvill make sure no harm comes to ye. If wvhat ye say wvhat ye havwe been through is true, I say ye havwe been through enough."

"Thanks," she replied her eyes shifting to the floor before looking at him with a soft smile.

He smiled back, "Wvelcome to me crewv, Ms. Serket."

"Please …. Call me Vriska," she whimpered.

"Vwriska….. I like that name…" he replied patting her shoulder.

She smiled slightly, "Thank you, Captain."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Outcast

Dualscar smiled at his new crew member before allowing her to rest, he figured she needed it for now; the less she did today the more she could do tomorrow. When she was asleep he brought in the ship's doctor to treat her wounds with proper medicine, the doctor was shocked at the sight of the woman, but was not going to risk angering him by bombarding his Captain with questions. The doctor was a thin timid man, Dualscar had acquired by fishing him out of the ocean after blowing up the ship he had been staying on. He spent most of his days in the infirmary not wishing to deal with any of the other crew members, unless they were bleeding to death, then he would deal with them. The doctor looked over the sleeping girl applying high quality medicines to the cuts on her face, after a few moments he was done.

"There they should heal in no time and won't leave scars…" the doctor stated looking at his Captain.

Dualscar nodded remaining in a stern appearance so his crew member knew his place and not to trouble him about the Serket girl, he had obtained. The doctor was very curious about the girl though, he knew the Captain hated the Serkets do to his black throes with Mindfang so he and the crew learned to despise them as well. Seeing his captain caring for one, treating her with the finer medicine, letting her sleep in his rope and use is shower, made him concerned. He had to know what was going on, was the rivalry between Mindfang and Dualscar over? He bit his lip, he knew he would be disrespecting the Captain's unspoken orders to remain quiet regarding his little guest, but he had to know.

"Captain?" the doctor said in a soft spoken timid tone.

Dualscar darted him a cold glare, "Aye?"

"W-who is she….." the doctor whispered softly.

Dualscar narrowed his eyes in a menacing nature before giving a sly sharked tooth grin. "She be yer newv crewv mate…." His eyes then darkened in a serious manner. "Ye best not be tellin' anyone, or ye wvill be dealin' with me wvrath and I don't think ye wvant that. I wvill be discussin' rules regardin' her joinin' us once she is able bodied."

"Y-yes of course, Captain," the doctor said with a small nod.

The Orphaner looked at his medical companion "Tell the first mate to remain on course to the next lusii breedin' ground, if any issues may occur then I wvant ye and only ye to come deliver them to me. Tell him and the others that he wvill remain in charge wvhile I deal wvith a task in me quarters. Am I understood?"

"Yes Captain!"

"Good, I be trustin' ye to followv me orders, if ye disregard any of em' that wvill be direct vwiolation of me orders and again, punishment wvill be bestowved upon ye, understood?"

"Yes Captain!" the doctor yelled with slight nervousness.

Dualscar nodded and waved the doctor off as he faced the little Serket. The doctor quickly slipped out the door and ran off to tell the crew of his orders. The Orphaner walked up to the smaller girl brushing some hair out of her face, she was really pretty, even prettier than Mindfang. He grits his teeth, he felt really awkward and a bit creepy standing over her, staring at her. He turned away and sighed sitting at his desk, he felt this girl was going to be trouble for him. He couldn't dwell on that though, he was a man of his word and he promised he would take care of her… even if she was the blood of Mindfang.

Vriska woke up a day later, sitting up from the mat stretching out her limbs with a loud yawn. She felt better than ever, she felt like she could conquer the world. She ran her tongue over the places where she had lost some teeth and felt the little boney spikes poking through the sensitive gums as they grew back. Her eyes rested upon Dualscar who was at his desk, drinking some amber liquid from an unmarked bottle. The sight of what she most definitely knew what was alcohol made her mouth water with desire for just a taste. She stood up, her joints popping, making a similar sound to that of someone playing with bubble wrap, and she cautiously walked towards him.

"Hello Captain Dualscar," she said with soft joy in her voice as she got a faint smell of the drink.

"Aye Vwriska, good to see ye be rested," he replied giving her a slight smile.

"Um….. So what are you drinking?" she says as she takes a sniff from over his shoulder to get a better smell. "Ohhh is that pyrat rum?" she asked with a joyful smile.

He nodded, "Ye…. Ye can just tell from a wvaft…" his voice was a bit surprised that the tinier girl knew the smell of the specific drink. "So I take it ye like rum?" he asked chuckling some.

She nodded smiling wide, "I love it! Then again I like most poisons."

He started laughing, "Ye and I are goin' to get along wvell."

She wanted a taste so she took a chance in asking, "Can…. Can I have a taste?"

He raised an eyebrow his mouth gaping some about to say something to her before just handing the bottle over. He was planning on giving her a few choice words, his crew knew to NEVER ask Dualscar for his rum or liquor in general unless they wanted to deal with a ringed back hand across the face. Nobody touched that man's rum, it was suicide. The Orphaner wasn't putting his crew through some kind of prohibition though, if he did that he wouldn't have a crew. He just gave the crew bootleg booze, unlike the finer things he kept for himself. This girl knew not of his drinking ways so he felt it would be a bit rude to chastise her for something she had no idea about, plus if he gave her a pleasantry of rum maybe she would be less likely to turn on him, if backstabbing be her true intentions.

Vriska's eyes widened as she was handed the bottle of rum, both hands eagerly wrapping around the glass. She put it to her lips taking a quick small sip, even though she wanted to down the bottle, but she assumed that would be taking advantage of his kindness. She enjoyed the burn in her throat and that tingly sensation on her taste buds as the amber drink washed through it. She smiled handing the bottle back to him, who was watching her indulge in the pleasure one small sip gave her, it took a whole bottle to do that to him. His large hand took hold of the bottle and set it down on his desk, he would finish it off in a minute.

"Howv exactly did ye get to drink if ye wvere a prisoner on Mindfang's ship like ye said? I knowv for sure that wvoman doesn't share her liquor," he stated giving a stern look in her eyes to detect any lies that might spill from her lips.

Her eyes shifted side to side followed by a nervous chuckle, "Oh …. Well… you see … I kinda….stole from the galley…. A lot…"

He couldn't help but chuckle at that, "Ye…. Ye stole from ole' Fang? And ye didn't get caught?"

"Well …. I am not stupid… I know how steal things without being caught…. Whenever I needed to dispose of the bottles... I would plant them on some old drunkard who passed out…."

"Damn, ye a ballsy one…. Ye must got a death wvish… not evwen the bravwest men would steal from Fang," he said with a grin.

She sighs, "Some days I wvould rather be dead than spend another day on that ship."

He nods in understanding grabbing the bottle off his desk and took a big swig from it. He swished the drink in his mouth before swallowing it down. With that he put the bottle to his mouth once more and downed the rest of the drink, his nose scrunching at the burning sensation, which surprisingly he wasn't use to given his drinking habits. He looked at the girl giving her a comforting, or what he assumed was a comforting smile, he was never good at coaxing others.

"So howv ye feelin' today? Any better?" he asked dropping the empty bottle in a waste bin under his desk.

She smiles at him giving a quick abrupt nod, "Yes Captain. I feel a lot better. Thank you."

He nods standing up, "I suppose ye can get to wvork today then."

"Yeah I am well enough for some work," she replied.

"Ye need an outfit change though…. That robe isn't proper sea faring attire…. And it is a bit flimsy…. Ye might givwe the crewv some ideas wvearing that," he darkly chuckled grinning at her.

"O-oh…." she whimpered her eyes looking at the floor.

His grin faded into a concerned look, realizing the terrible inconsiderate he just made. He walked up to the sad girl putting a hand on her chin lifting it up to look into her eyes. His thumb ran across her cheek in an attempt to be a soothing action. Vriska didn't want to suffer that again, she had been through enough already. Dualscar sighed giving her a sympathetic look.

"Vwriska I swvear that I wvon't let anythin' bad happen to ye. I givwe ye my wvord as a Captain and if I see or hear anythin' that is unacceptable I wvill take care of it. And if any one of the crewv do anythin' that makes ye feel uncomfortable in any wvay, tell me. I wvill end it and make an example for the others," he said in a stern tone.

"W-what if you aren't around…. And something really bad happens?" she asked in a soft whimper.

"I wvill kill wvhoevwer did it, I don't accept that kinda behavwior on me ship. Then I wvill do wvhatevwer I can do to console ye…. But as far as I knowv evwerythin' wvill be okay…. Ye got to trust me for nowv…" he replied.

She nods sighing as her eyes shifted to the floor looking at her bruised feet. He lets out a loud breath, his fins dropping slightly, before releasing her chin and walking over to his large wardrobe. He opens up the two wooden doors, making them creak as they were pulled out. He crouches down in front of the wardrobe and reaches in pulling out a large chest, blackened with age. Vriska walks over to him and looks over his shoulder, pondering the countless possibilities it might hold inside.

"What's in there?" she asked.

"History," he answered simply as he open it up.

He pulled an outfit out of the chest, particularly Mindfang's from back in the days when age hadn't taken its toll. It was a black armored dress with some blue coloring in it, the distinctive scarlet boots were there as well. It certainly looked like it would fit her, after all he did get them around the time Mindfang was about her age. He didn't care to offer an explanation to why he had them, since it was obvious given their past.

Vriska was slightly disgusted that she was going to have to wear that bitch's old clothes, but she didn't show any signs of it, she knew she didn't have the right to complain. Instead she just decided to be grateful, after all he was treating her better than Mindfang, and she didn't even give her another outfit once hers were becoming rags. She took the outfit and boots from his hands, her eyes hatefully gazing over them.

She looked up at him giving him a smile. "Thank you Captain. Where shall I change?"

Dualscar snorted, his fins flaring, "Don't thank me…. That thing is bloody gaudy…. I am sorry ye got to wvere it but I don't exactly keep ladies clothes lyin' around on me ship. That should be better than nothing' though, it is armored so it wvill provwide protection and its light wveight so it wvill be easy to wvork in…. As for changin' just use me bathroom."

She nods making her way into the bathroom closing the door behind her. She stripped out of the robe, having the sea bitch's journal fall once the fabric released her breasts. She picked it up with a sigh her nails digging into the cover; she would hold on to it a bit longer, she wasn't ready to throw it away. She changed into the awful outfit, tucking the journal back into the spot between her breasts. She analyzed how she looked in a mirror, well the clothes did fit like a glove and she didn't look half bad. She then sighed looking at her slightly bruised face which was beginning to heal up, her full plump lips were just a classic pale black and her eyes were dim with dark circles, she missed her makeup.

Dualscar put the chest back into his wardrobe shutting the doors once it was in. Vriska stepped out of the bathroom, causing Dualscar to nearly jump out of his skin at the sight of her. It would take him a while before the voice and now the look didn't remind him of Mindfang. It was like seeing into the past, and he wouldn't be the only one to think so. He turned exiting the Captain's quarters, his boots pounding on the ground as he made his way to the helm of the ship.

"Come on," he yelled.

She quickly followed after him, making her way up on deck. A hush fell over the once rambling crew as Vriska strode out to join Dualscar's side. The doppelgangerly resemblance fooled them into thinking she was in fact the Marquise, this caused some of them to physically pail in fear. Dualscar wasn't exactly happy to see the fear just one little girl struck into the hearts of grown men, but on the bright side he had their full attention. Dualscar then smirked getting an idea, he could use this to his to his advantage to make his crew more efficient.

"Men! Blackguards! Knaves! Scoundrels! Ye must have all noted by nowv wve havwe a lovwely guest aboard, as a matter a fact she is our newv crewv member. Ye may havwe noticed that our newv member is of a ….. Feminine nature…"

He didn't care to use the word woman because that would make Vriska seem different from the men. He wanted all of his crew to be the same, making them disregard anything that made them think Vriska was weaker. He paced the helm of the ship as he spoke, his powerful voice easily echoing over the silent crew, who were having riveting looks between the two, Vriska and Dualscar.

"Though she is not the Marquise Spinneret Mindfang, this happens to be her descendant, Vwriska. And as such I am instatin' twvo newv lawvs. ONE! YE KEEP YER LECHEROUS SCURVY RIDDEN HANDS OFF OF HER! Not only wvill I punish ye, I wvill allowv her to imagine some sort of punishment for ye as wvell. TWO! Until I say otherwvise, all orders she givwes are of _my_ spoken consent, as such respect her as ye wvould meself. Nowv get those looks off yer faces and get movwing! Wve havwe a ship to sail!" He barked.

In unison the crew yelled out, "Aye! Aye! Captain!"

He watched as they all scurried off like rats to find their positions and jobs. He figured they would give her a wide berth of space for now, while Vriska gets acquainted with the ship. He turned to his new crew member grinning some with a cocky attitude, he loved being a Captain.

"Vwriska," he only spoke low enough for their ears to hear. "The bowv sail has yet to be lowvered, take care of it. Once ye finish there, personally check to see if the cannons are tied dowvn. I am…. Trustin' ye wvith a big position. Do not disappoint me, I got a lot of faith in ye," he stated.

"Yes Captain, I can do it, you can trust me," she replied.

She had a smile on her face; this is what she wanted from Mindfang's ship. Dualscar took hold of the wheel and made a circular motion with his hand turning the ship. He stared out at the horizon keeping his eyes locked on it. Vriska turned from him and went off to do as asked, she wouldn't fail him.

"Vwriska!" he called out for her.

"Yes Captain?" she called out quickly running back to him.

"Glad ye joined me crewv…. Ye wvill make a great pirate," he said a smile crossing his face his eyes still fixed on the horizon.

That… that made her feel warm inside, a feeling that she didn't know existed in her, even before Mindfang took a toll on her life. Sure he wasn't Mindfang, but it meant a lot to her that he said that, it meant even more he actually thought that. She smiled wide running off to do her tasks; she wanted to show him that those words were true.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Vwalley Girl

A small ceremony of mourning took place for the unfortunate fall of his kismesis. Eridan Ampora, didn't want to believe it, he thought Vriska would of made it out at sea, but he soon was aware of her possible demise when he found her rugged tattered back pack washed ashore not far from his hive. Mindfang tossed the thing when she dumped Vriska overboard, but Eridan thought she was consumed by the sea and all that was left was the bag. She had to be dead, he would have been contacted by her by now, and she promised him she would have kept in touch.

Eridan managed to put together a ceremony in her memory; he missed her and needed to feel like he wasn't the only one who felt such a way. He wasn't doing so well after dealing with the thought of Vriska's death, so his dancestor, Cronus, moved in with him to help him cope. If only Eridan knew that Vriska was alive and well, and actually a little happy.

Vriska lowered the bow sail like asked and got to the task of tying the cargo and cannons down. Dualscar watched the girl work like a true member of his vessel out of the corner of his eyes. He smirked slyly to himself as he watched all of his crew work like a well oiled machine. His first mate strode over to Dualscar's side with a cocky smile.

"Hello Captain," he hummed.

"Oi, howv ye be?" Dualscar grunted his eyes shifting over to his crew member.

"Oh good enough. So I see I have been replaced by a Serket," he chuckled.

"No, she is just there to keep the men in check, ye knowv?" the Orphaner said with a soft smirk.

"So…. Tell me…. Where did you get her? Did Mindfang give her to you or did you just find her?" the first mate questioned.

Being the first mate he was less likely to suffer Dualscar's anger so that gave him more liberty to do things other crew members would get in trouble for, such as interrogate him about the new feminine guest. The first mate was a suave yet gentle man who had no ill intentions. He was once a soldier for the empress but after war took toll on his emotions he resigned before being assigned with Dualscar to hunt lusii. He had known Dualscar for many sweeps now and developed a strong bond with the man, so he saw him more as a friend than a superior.

"I found her," he muttered.

"And why keep her? Needed a cabin girl …. Or a platform warmer?" he chuckled with a raised eyebrow.

Dualscar's eyes widened and he shook his head frantically, "Cod No!… She is just a crewv member!"

"Well a platform warmer would explain why you won't let the men touch her; you want her all for yourself…. Besides I know you wouldn't let _she_, a Serket, be a crew member on your ship…. So what is the deal?" the first mate asked raising his eyebrows.

"I just let her be a crewv member, okay," he grunted.

"Look Captain, I am not judging you if she is a platform warmer. I mean, you are a hardworking man, and Mindfang is never around you often, so I can see why you would take liking into a younger curvier version to bed down with," he chuckled with a cocky smirk.

"I am not pailing her…. Look… she's been through ….. A lot… I took pity on her…" he sighed.

"Oh I see….. So you are a softy?" he teased.

Dualscar shot him a glare and snarled.

"Sheesh…. You know I am kidding… don't get your violet panties in a knot… so where did you get her really?" he asked picking at his claws.

"Last port as wve wvere packin' up… Remember wvhen I wvent on a wvalk… Wvell I found her half dead on the shore. Instead of leavwin' her I took her. I wvanted to knowv her story… She has been betrayed by her owvn blood," he replied.

"And you trust her?" the first mate asked leaning against the ship's railing.

"Wvell, she is just one girl. If she is plannin' somethin' I can handle her," he sighed.

"What happened to her, exactly?"

"Mindfang, to put it simply. Her crewv did things to Vwriska, and the wvoman didn't even care…. That's wvhy I am serious about the crewv knowvin' their boundaries…. Sure she is a Serket, but no one deservwes that," he sighs.

"I knowv," he puts a hand on Dualscar's shoulder. "She doesn't seem so bad. She is working pretty fast."

"Aye, keep an eye on her. Just make sure the men knowv their places around her. I promised her I wvouldn't let them harm her in any wvay…. I am a man of my wvord," he mutters.

"You can count on me," the first mate replies with a smirk.

Dualscar nods dismissing the first mate to continue his own tasks and turns his attention back to Vriska. After a few hours once in calm waters, the crew was sent off to the galley to eat lunch and have a break from work. Vriska lagged behind the crowd of rowdy men; she wanted her distance from the rest of the crew. She made her way below deck, into the galley looking around at the tables filled with seated men, yelling and laughing about who knows what. She noticed one table that had only one man seated at it, it was the doctor. He had a small cup of tea in his hands but nothing more, unlike the other crew members who were gorging on some sort of meat. Vriska walked over to the table, seating across from the doctor who gave her a small glare, but nothing more.

Vriska kept her head down, not daring to spark up a conversation with the quiet doctor. She put her hands on the table, twiddling her thumbs round about each other, she felt awkward here. She glanced around looking at all the men grouped together at the tables having their own conversations with one another much like cliques at a wriggler school. Dualscar was at the head Captain's table, which was much nicer shown by the silk table cloth and velvet padded chairs; his loyals where sitting with him, his first mate was sitting by his side. She looked back at the doctor; he must be the recluse of the crew, she thought. A plate with meat and some vegetables was thrown down in front of Vriska which made her jump some. She looked up to see a jolly chef with a wide greeting smile.

"I got ye some vegetables along with yer meat, thought ye might like it," he chuckled.

"O-oh thank you," she replied with a nervous smile.

He grinned, "It's no trouble. Anything for a lovely lady like yeself. Got to stay nourished so ye can keep up with all the men!"

"Can you be quiet?" The doctor grunted.

"Oh sorry," Vriska muttered keeping her head down.

"Ah shuddup! Ye and yer fuckin' herbal teas. Ye need to eat something other than fuckin' grass. Ye are pathetic, I can't believe the Captain puts up with yer ass," the chef snarled.

Vriska didn't like this so she decided to speak up. "Hey stop….. I don't know what the issue is, but…. He is a crew member and like it or not you two are stuck with each other."

The chef growled, "I suppose ye be right but watch out for this one, Lass. He's weird."

With that the chef walked off to make sure everyone else had a plate of food. The doctor glared at Vriska narrowing his eyes at her, she just gave a puzzled expression. He took his tea and stood up looking down at her with disgust.

"I don't need you to fight my battles, Serket. Mind your own business," the doctor hissed walking off to retreat to his office in the infirmary.

Vriska sighs not sure what exactly she did wrong and looks down at her plate of food. She grabs a fork and began eating some of the meat, she wasn't sure what it was but it was good. Two crew members broke off from one of the cliques at the table and took a seat on either side of Vriska. She tensed up and kept her eyes fixated on her food so she didn't have to look at them.

"Ye are much prettier than that wicked bitch Mindfang," one of them chuckled.

"Aye, ye are going to have to know how to handle yer men if ye want to be successful on this ship," the other snickered.

Dualscar noticed this and nudged his elbow at his first mate shifting his eyes from him to Vriska's table. The first mate stands with a nod and struts over to the damsel in distress. He plops down across from Vriska and eyes the two men, tapping his claws on the table.

"Ahem…. Is there an issue with our lovely crew member here," the first mate enquired.

"Uh, …no… nothing is wrong," one of the men grunted.

The first mate began to speak in a suave tone. "Then I suggest you leave her be. She needs to take time to warm up to you guys and bugging her isn't going to increase that process any faster…. You two know what it is like to be new on the ship, it's nerve racking isn't it. Hell, didn't one of you piss your pants the first day, and everyone laughed at you, even gave The Orphaner a good laugh. Now you don't want to put her through the same stress, and you know if you make her uncomfortable in anyway the Captain will stick his steel toed boot so far up your ass you will be able to taste what he has been stepping on. So, again, I suggest, so everyone is happy, you two retreat back to your table and go back to trading penny pail books with your fellow comrades. Sound good?"

The two men where flustered and embarrassed quickly retreating back to their group. The first mate watched their awkward demeanor with an amused smirk on his face. He turned his attention back to Vriska and gave her a sweet smile.

"Sorry about them," the first mate stated.

"It's fine…. Thanks for that," she replied.

"Ah it is no trouble. They weren't actually going to take any inappropriate action, just so you know. I know them and they are good men for the most part, other than being a little crude. They were just flirting, men just can be stupid sometimes, and say shit that isn't exactly _wriggler friendly_. You can't be too upset about it, boys will be boys and they just don't know how to behave around a beautiful lass like yourself. They wouldn't do anything to hurt you though because of Captain's orders, as far as I know. Its been awhile since they have seen a girl, our last stop was just a quick supply grab so they didn't get to spend time with any women so a lot of the men will try and sweet talk you into bedding them, but they wouldn't force themselves on you. Most of them men here are either run aways, cast aways, or former soldiers, and they all respect the Captain. Just if anyone makes you feel not safe or if they touch you and it doesn't feel right, even if it isn't a non-threatening way just tell me or Dualscar. Issues will get resolved, so no worries there. "

"Thanks," she replies with a smile.

"Again, no problem. We are crew after all, we all need to look out for each other," he says with a friendly smile that never seemed to fade.

"Not everyone thinks that apparently," she sighs.

"Talking about the Doctor, aye? He is… an odd ball, there are quite a few of those here. I am not sure what his axe is to grind with everyone but he likes keeping to himself. Sorry if he upset you," he huffs.

"I guess its fine," she says stuffing a fork full of vegetables into her mouth.

"Well if you want I can keep you company so you don't have to sit alone."

"Sure," she smiled.

After an hour the men were released from the galley to get back to work, minus a few who stayed behind to help the chef clean. Vriska stood up and began walking up on deck with the first mate. He was friendly to her, and she enjoyed his company, it was nice having a kind person around. Up on deck, Vriska realized that she wasn't exactly sure what to do, the first mate noticed this.

"Go to Dualscar, he will give you some work," he stated.

"Okay, sounds good, thanks," she replies.

"No problem, if you ever need any instruction just ask him, and if he isn't in command then I will be. I am the first mate." He hears someone call for him. "Sorry, wish I could keep chatting, but I got to go…. Good luck."

Vriska watches him run off and frowns to herself…. First mate…. She was only haunted by thoughts of Mindfang's first mate at the sound of that title. It was surprising to see how different those two men were though, Mindfang's was a cruel greedy pervert, but Dualscar's was kind, caring, and charming. She sighs and walks to the helm of the ship joining Dualscar's side.

"Is there anything I can do, Captain?" Vriska asked.

"I suppose ye can man the helm…. It is easy enough," he says offering the wheel.

Vriska smiled as she moved into Dualscar's spot and took the wheel, her hands clasping the wooden surface. Dualscar decided to walk his ship making sure everything was tidy and in order. He prowled the deck, checking the ropes, riggings, and sails aboard; making sure everything was where it was suppose to be. He tightened a few ropes until he was finally satisfied with them. Vriska gazed out at the bright blue seas as she had the wheel under her control. She smiled feeling a new found freedom wash over her. After some time, Dualscar returned to the helm of the ship.

"How's she feel, Vwriska?" he asked, she meaning the ship.

"The ship is riding smoothly, Captain," she smiles. "Do you want control again?" she asked taking one hand off the wheel.

"Not at the moment, ye seem to be able to handle it wvell enough."

He rested against the railing, watching as the water past them. She smiled as she continued to have control over the wheel of the ship. She watched the water in the distance, admiring its beauty as her hair blew around in the breeze. She forgot how much she loved having her hair down, it had been so long since she felt the wind in it.

"So howv do ye knowv howv to handle a ship? Mindfang teach ye?" He asked, since he didn't know her past or how lacking Mindfang's mothering could be.

"No. Mindfang didn't really teach me anything. She just made me do stuff, like cleaning, so I mean I learned the ins and outs of a ship that way but I taught myself to sail. When I was little I use to steal ships and go on joy rides. I always wanted to be a pirate, I just loved the ocean and its riches," she says with a somber chuckle.

"Hmmm. Wvell at least ye gavwe me something' to wvork wvith," he says with a soft smile.

He pulled a pipe from his pocket and filled it up with some tobacco before lighting it. Vriska smelled the smoke of the burning tobacco and she soon began to crave a taste. Her eyes shifted from the pipe to sea, growing anxious for a deep inhale.

"Captain, this is an odd request, but may I please have a drag of that?" she asked.

He looked over at her smoke billowing around him for a second before he winds snatched it away never to be seen again. It was an odd request but hardly enough to deny so he offered the pipe her way. She took the pipe to her lips and took a deep inhale, blowing out some smoke circles after she handed the pipe back over. She was so young; it made him a bit sad to see she already had an ill habit of smoking.

"Thank you Captain, I just needed a smoke of that," Vriska chuckles.

"For future reference I suggest you carvwe yer owvn pipe so ye don't havwe to bum other people's," he replied continuing with his own smoke.

"I know, I am sorry for using yours," she sighs becoming in a quiet state.

He could see thoughts of Mindfang still haunted her and he grew sympathetic for her. Every move Vriska made mirrored that of the monster who tortured her, and he began to wonder if the poor girl could ever truly be free from that woman's web. The young Serket was now in a melancholy sort of state now as she continued her control of the ship. He was a bit bothered about how _quiet _she was, Mindfang always kept a steady stream of conversation, even if it was mainly about topics that just concerned herself. Maybe that was what the problem was with Vriska; she had been over talked too much until she just wasn't heard. She was staring at the sea in a neutral state as the sea breeze blew her hair making it flutter about.

He blew smoke up into the air as he began whistling a pirate's life for me to himself. She heard him whistle that song and couldn't help but sing along with his whistling. She loved that song; it brought her peace at mind. The both found peace in that ancient song, as old as when trolls first set sail out on the seas. He tucked his pipe away beginning to whistle a bit louder hearing her sing carry over the wind. Unaware, she sang a bit louder, only loud enough for their ears, when he whistled louder. She had a beautiful voice, high, clear, and confident. It was nice and he enjoyed it, unlike that of Mindfang's, because while they shared the same voice, Mindfang's was twisted with hate and her vindictiveness.

He noted that she handled the ship well, and he liked her alone for that fact for his ship could be a bit _temperamental. _She had a firm hand when needed yet was a real sweetheart and she was handling his ship well, deft hands adjusting where adjustment was needed. Her body was at rhythm with the sea beneath her feet which was shown by her graceful sway. He looked at the sun seeing it was almost setting so he made his way towards her taking the wheel.

"Fine job," he said with a smile.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Rage

After dinner that night the crew was dismissed to their sleeping quarters to wind down for the night. Vriska stood on the deck lightening a few lanterns as asked by Dualscar. She watched all the crew walk down below deck until she was the last one left out. Turning her attention to the helm of the ship she saw Dualscar handing the wheel over to a crew member who she assumed had the night shift. The Orphaner then strutted over to Vriska, who just finished filling the last lantern with oil and lightening it while yawning loudly.

"Oi, Lass, good wvork today, evwerythin' alright?" he asked.

"Yeah everything is good," she replied with a friendly smile.

"Ye are probably wvonderin' wvhere ye gonna be sleepin'?" he inquired cracking his neck.

"Yeah…." she muttered looking around.

She really was curious about where she would be residing for the evening. It couldn't be with the rest of the crew in the common sleeping quarters, that wouldn't be all too safe for her. What if he made her stay in a storage closet, like Mindfang had? That would only bring up harsh and cruel memories of the past filled with that disgusting sound the rats made as they chewed their way through the walls and crates. That horrible and mocking sound was starting to haunt the once calmed aura of her mind, distorting it into a wicked storm of anger, fear, and depression that disrupted the seas of tranquil existence. A look flashed in her eyes for a brief moment, a look that was of something un-troll like, a look that, again, made the brave fearless royal blooded pirate Captain grow very concerned. Like the shrill unexplainable terror felt when ascending a staircase and taking a misstep leaving someone in a moment of paralyzed fear that they could be faced with falling, that look only lasted less than a second, yet felt eternal.

"Lass….. Ye alright there?" The seafaring Captain asked in a low cautious whisper.

"Yes. Everything is fine," The girl spoke with no living emotion, but in a monotone almost robotic way of an automated message.

"Okay, wvell…. Ye wvill bed wvith me," he stated looking down at her, with concern still stitched in his furrowed brows.

"What?" Vriska snarled somewhat

Bed with him? She asked to herself. This man better not be expecting her to intimately sleep with him just because he provided her some petty charity out of pity. Did he really think that was appropriate?! Did he really think he was so suave and charming he could pull that kind of dumb assery?! Was he just as much of a desperate fool like all his other pathetic male kin?! Was he looking for a death wish?! Wait, worse than a death wish! Was he wanting to know the feeling of being kicked so hard in that appendage between his legs that it inverted?! These were the questions that passed the angered pessimistic and paranoid views of the Serket girl's mind.

The Captain nearly blushed at realization that his simple statement came off quite lewd, than he had ever wanted. Sure, that girl was very pretty, but unlike most men, his crotch wasn't some lust hungry beast that only craved the soft warm crux between a woman's legs. Sure, men had two heads, but he only thought with the one that had a legitimate brain protected by a thick dome wall of bone structure. Sure, he was a pirate but he was not some sick perverted bastard that wished to break every maiden head he found. He held up his hands in defense at the awkward mix of anger and embarrassed tension between them.

"That…. That came off vvery inappropriate….. I havve no intentions of doin' that, I swwear…. I …. I just meant that ye wwill be sleepin' in my quarters…. So … ye feel safer… ye knoww?" Great, his wrigglerish stutter returned, it always did when he was nervous or embarrassed.

The girl's face softened and she busted into laughter, "Good! You almost had yourself about to be lying on the floor riving in agony while clutching between your legs."

The Captain gave an awkward chuckle and scratched behind one of his fins, "Aye, I probably wvould of deservwed it too if I wvas actually tryin' to … _romance_ ye …. But in all seriousness, I am just tryin' to make ye feel comfortable here. Come let's go to bed, it has been a long day and wve both need some sleep before I say somethin' else that might trigger ye into rippin' off me manhood."

She nods, and the two walk off below deck and into the Captain's quarters after that awkward banter. Dualscar tried his best to avoid eye contact with this girl now, after making a complete fool out of himself. He was a noble Captain and he was supposed to behave such away and show no signs of weakness, awkward mannerisms, or simple errs to any member of his crew or someone who should take him seriously. This angered him very much so, but he wasn't angry at her for assuming that he wanted to get intimate, but angry at himself for making such a wrigglerish mistake and showing his vulnerability to her, a Serket. COD Fuckin' damn it, he was The Fuckin' ORPHANER! He grew into a state of utter self-loathing and an awkward mix of wriggler like confusion with his emotions. Once in his room her grunted as he took off his cape hanging it up on a wall hook.

"Ye sleep on the mat again. Ye can also sleep in me robe again if ye wvant. It beats tossin' and turnin' in those wvork clothes all night. Sure, they make for good wvorkin', but not sleepin'. Nowv if ye are goin' to change, I suggest ye do it wvhile I am in the showver, unless ye wvant to take yer own showver, then I suggest ye just relax," he muttered pulling some clothes for himself out of his wardrobe.

He cracked his neck as he balled the clothes up and held them under his armpit. He took the opportunity while his hands were free to pull off all his jewelry, except his earrings, and set them on the desk. Although he did love his gold and wore it to show his high stature, he wasn't going to make himself uncomfortable while he went to bed. In another realization, he noticed he, again, was showing Vriska weakness, by shedding his jewelry which was his ego's armor. He was showing off what he called his soft side, but in reality it was what everyone just called normalcy. He needed to stop being so comfortable around this girl, so nice to this girl, she should fear him. Everyone should fear him, and yet she saw him with his jewelry off, not even his first mate had seen that. He growls to himself and goes to his bathroom, closing the door shut behind him.

With a sigh, he placed his clean sleeping clothes down on the bathroom counter. He stripped down out of his clothes folding them up and setting them aside to his clean ones. Dualscar sighed again looking at his body in the mirror, mainly his scarred to hell and tattooed covered torso. His thumb traces over a long jagged scar that curved along the contours of some of his abdominals. He then looked at his face running his finger along his scared face, he then sighed. Weakness gave him these scars. Then again it was his strength and manly bravado that sculpted his lean and desired physique, and gave him his tattoos.

He had quite a bit of ink on him, most of it nautical. A large white menacing sea horse fading into a blue hue of ocean waves wrapped around his bicep of his left arm. There was large black anchor with a skull for the top where the rope linked through, on the top his left pectoral that trailed down to his mid section. On his right arm was a bare breasted troll mermaid with a long beautiful tail rising from the ocean with her hands trailing up through the back of her long beautiful hair, the mermaid was Mindfang. Just below his Mindfang Mermaid was just a row of random violet stars that had no meaning to them, only getting them when he was drunk. On the back of his neck was a black spade with a Scorpio symbol in it, which matched with one his kismesis had. On his back was a ship with large tentacles wrapping around it, representing Gl'bgolyb, beneath the waves that crashed on the ship was a massive school of fish and sharks. He enjoyed his tattoos, yet he would have to fix the Mindfang related ones, because that black wasn't going to last.

After taking a shower he returned to the main room in his sleeping clothes, which was just a white long sleeved tunic and black silk pants. He looks over seeing Vriska who was looking at Mindfang's journal, he knew that journal anywhere. He snaps into a fit of rage, growling as he runs up to her grabbing her by the horn and slamming her into the wall, hard. She closed her eyes tightly, shaking in fear as the journal was ripped from her grasp.

"WVHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!" he yelled getting up in her face shaking the journal.

"M-Mindfang's journal…." she whimpered.

"Ye still care about her?! Is that it! Ye are a fuckin' spy! Ye LIED to me!" he growls slamming her against the wall again.

"N-no… I… I am not… I swear," she says starting to cry.

"LIAR! Wvhy do ye havwe this shit then?!" he snarls smacking her in the face with the journal.

She yelps as he hits her in the face, "I … I had it b-because… I-it is a-all I … I have left of my foolish w-wriggler d-dreams…. And it's … its" she cries.

"STOP SNVILING and tell me right now wvhy I shouldn't gut ye," he screams.

"I…I…" she can't speak, fear was clogging her throat.

He wraps his large hands around her throat and starts to choke her violently, shaking her. She tries to scream out, but a sick gasping sound of death escapes her lips. Her hands frantically claw at his, as her face starts turning blue. She looked into his eyes seeing not the kind hearted noble Captain, but a murderous monster who only wanted her to die. Her tears roll down from her fear filled pleading eyes and she starts wheezing feeling her windpipe slowly crushing under his shear strength. Her clawing starts becoming weak and her eyes were in the process of rolling back when he snaps out of it. He blinks, a look of disgust with himself coming over him, he drops her and backs up.

"Vwriska…." he whimpered in horror, thinking he just killed that girl.

He nervously walks up to her motionless body kneeling down beside it. He cautiously reaches for her and pulls her into his arms, embracing her, she was limp. He bit his lip looking at her hand shaped bruised covered neck, and his heart started to hurt. He didn't know what just came over him, he didn't want to do this, and even if she was a threat he would of never of just murdered her in cold blood without letting her speak. She was so scared and she was crying, no spy or assassin of Mindfang's would do that, she was just a girl. His hands start to shake as he reached one out and began brushing some hair from her cheek. He felt horrible if he just killed this girl, even though he was the powerful and honorable Orphaner, he wasn't a complete monster.

"Vwris…. Please…. Wvake up, I… I am sorry…. I don't knowv wvhy…. Seein' that journal angered me…. I thought ye wvere lyin' and it upset me…. Ye are growvin' on me kid….. And I havwe been hurt and betrayed by too many people wvho havwe managed to growv on me… please," he muttered softly cradling her head in his hand.

He almost could cry over the death of Mindfang's descendent, but the man's tears had dried up long ago. He started to shake growing angry with himself; he thought he had control over his killer horrible side. He thought he made himself a good man after sweeps of terrible actions. There was a sound of a small whimper escape the girl's lips and her eyes started to open slowly, only landing upon Dualscar in fear. Tensing her body up she coughed in pain trying to catch her breath after being choked out. Dualscar's eyes widened and he gently rubbed the girl's shoulder trying to calm her.

"Lass….. I am sorry…. Please … I just had a lot on my mind…. And seeing that journal…. Pissed me off… I am not that kinda man though… I wvould of let ye speak, but somethin' came ovwer me…. Are ye okay? Can ye talk? Is anythin' broken?" he asked his voice a bit shaken.

Vriska whimpers crawling from his arms, "I am fine."

"I am not a bad man…. I am not a bad man… Believwe me," he mutters holding his hand out.

She cautiously stands and grabs her throat in pain, "I…. I am going to shower."

She grabs the robe and runs into the bathroom locking the door shut behind her as she starts crying. Dualscar just watched her run from him in fear, she was no Mindfang, and she wasn't evil. He didn't want to hurt her, she didn't do anything wrong, but then again why did she have Mindfang's journal? He sighs picking it up, looking at the page Vriska was reading, it was tear stained, she was mourning. He growls gripping his hair and shaking, what has he done?! Vriska showers, the whole time thinking about how scared she is to go back out to him.

Finally after an hour, she leaves the shower and comes out in the robe seeing Dualscar sitting on his bed. He hands her a little tube of sopor lotion to rub on her neck to ease the pain. She takes it cautiously rubbing the green goo on her neck, feeling it work its healing remedies on her bruised skin. The ugly discoloring would be gone in a day or two hopefully. She hands the tube back to him and he puts it away in a drawer in his nightstand.

"Feel better?" he asked looking into her eyes.

"I guess," she mumbled sitting on the mat by his bed.

He looks at her neck that had hand shaped bruises and he sighs, "Vwriska, wvhy do ye havwe Mindfang's journal?"

"I… I have had it since I was just a wriggler. My lusus was abusive and I had no friends but that journal…. That journal made me feel great… I thought I was destined for greatness…. But I was betrayed by the woman I wished to become… I kept it after the betrayal because that was the last little shred of hope I had left…. I … I wasn't ready to face reality… even after all she has done… I mean… I grew up reading that journal, it was the only thing I truly loved and… I wasn't ready to lose it…" she says in a soft tone her eyes looking at the journal he held.

"I… I understand…. Mindfang, wvas as glorified as she wvrote in her journal at one point, but ye havwe seen that she had changed. Mindfang, wvas a great and powverful pirate and evwen I admired her… I havwe nevwer told this to anyone but ye deservwe to knowv wve havwe both been hurt by her and…. I need to make up for hurtin' ye…. I, as taboo as it is, wvas red for her once. She wvas evwerythin' I wvanted, but she wvas becomin' …. evwil and as much as I wvanted her to be me matesprit, I didn't wvant to fall back into old habits due to her influence… so I became her kismesis, and then she treated me like a joke….." he sighs. "This is yers," he muttered handing the journal to her.

She held up her hand, "It's yours, I want you to keep it…. Dwelling in the past won't fix me….."

He grits his teeth looking at the journal, and squeezes it in his hands. That poor girl spent her life worshipping this thing; this made him angered at himself. He strangled her for just wanting to be like a wriggler again and read it with the admiration she once had. He loosed his grip and put the journal on his nightstand. That disgusting thing had tortured them both and it needed to be destroyed so an impressionable wriggler like Vriska once was finds it never again.

"Wve can givwe this wvretched thing a _proper_ burial," he muttered.

She chuckles, "Yeah that will be fun. So are you even with her anymore? I was on her ship for a sweep and I didn't see you once. I mean, I spent time with my kismesis a lot."

"Ye havwe a kismesis?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

She blushes somewhat, and whispers "Yeah, but I haven't seem him a sweep so let's not worry about that. Tell me, what is going on with you and Mindfang? I mean all I saw on her ship quadrant wise was The Summoner."

He groans, "Of course that fuckin' fairy slut wvas alwvays there. He is the reason wvhy she doesn't evwen wvant to spend time wvith me anymore…. She has screwved us both over. Ye worse than me, but ye know."

"Yeah I get it," she sighs lying down on her mat.

He lies down on his bed and glances over at her with a slight frown, "Look, I wvill try nevwer to hurt ye like that again. I swvear"

"Captain Dualscar…. It is okay… I understand you got issues… we all do… we just can't be turning on each other every step of the way if we want to destroy Mindfang." she grunted.

"Destroy…. Mindfang?" he asked shocked.

"Yes, not only are we going to give the journal a burial, but her too," she hisses.

"Ye can't be serious…" he replied.

"I am serious…. I want her dead…. And I want one of us to be the one to do it. Are you in?" she asked looking up at him.

"I… I can't go on a Mindfang hunt…. I got lusii to hunt," he groaned.

"I am not saying we need to hunt her down… I am just saying if she ever crosses our path we will kill her…." she chuckles.

"I see…." he sighs.

"You in then?" she asks holding her hand up to him with a wide smirk.

"Yer gonna be a hand full aren't ye?" he laughed.

"Not if ye have faith in me. So we got a plan?" she replied smirking.

"Fine! Wve got a plan. Wve shall kill the beldame," he chuckles shaking her hand.

"Nowv go to bed. Wve both havwe wvork tomorrowv…." he replies turning to turn off the light on his nightstand making the room dark.

"Night Captain," she yawns closing her eyes.

He smiles watching he nuzzle into the mat curling up in her blanket. "Night Vwriska," he whispered.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The Wvicker Man

Morning came soon enough and Vriska, along with the rest of the crew got up and got to work on the deck as the captain took his place upon the helm steering the wheel. Vriska was assigned the task of helping a few other crew members load gun powder into the cannons. The familiar scent of gun powder made Vriska think of home; she had a talent of building explosives and doomsday devices which she made a hobby of. She always built bombs for Eridan, back when he was going through his 'KILL ALL LANDWWELLERS' phase, but she always made them defective so he always failed, it was very amusing.

As she loaded barrels of gun powder into one of the larger cannons a few of the men watched her. Most were surprised that such a young girl could carry her own weight like this, and some where just watching her for the simple fact she was a woman, an attractive woman. One of the crew members kept a particular close eye on her; it was a while since he had seen a woman. He continued to watch her as she effortlessly went about her work, one of his companions noticed and laughed smacking him square upside his head with a laugh.

On the other side of the ship Dualscar's first mate was tackling a task of just directing some of the crew who were moving around a cannon. The wind was pretty heavy out today so the ship was rocking quite severely causing those who didn't have the best grip on their sea legs to stumble about which made for harder work than it ought to be. Up from the crow's nest a rope had gotten free and it was now swinging fast about the ship causing most to duck and cover. Although it was just a rope, if it were to hit someone at the speed it was swinging it could inflict some serious damage. Dualscar just laughed at his men who were cowering, calling them all 'A bunch of pussies.'

Seeing no one else was planning on doing anything about the swinging rope of death, the first mate went off to wrangle it down so work could get back on track. As he got closer to it a big gust of wind came and blew the rope in his direction causing it to make contact with his neck. It felt as if he had just been hit with a whip and his neck was bleeding profusely now. Regardless of his injury the man managed to grab hold of the rope and tie it down to the mast, in a knot that he knew wouldn't get loose. Dualscar noticed the blood streaming from his neck and walked over to check on him, after handing the wheel over to someone else.

"Oi, ye alright?" he asked walking up to the first mate who was now clutching his neck in realization that being hit with a rope really did hurt like a bitch.

"Who's the fucking sonuvabitch who let that get loose?" he chuckled lightheartedly, but it was obvious he was hurting.

"Let me see it?" Dualscar commanded wanting to see the severity of the wound.

The first mate hissed moving his indigo blood covered hand from his neck. It was a pretty sizable and deep gash the rope had inflicted on his neck and it wasn't a clean blow either. The flesh was ripped about in different ways and thick nasty jagged rope fibers littered the expose blue meat, splintering it. Dualscar reached in towards the cut pulling out a rope fiber that was about an inch long, the first mate hissed at this. The Captain flicked the bloody fiber from his fingers and sighed at his first mate.

"Go to the infirmary, ye need stitches. Ye are relievwed from yer wvork for the day," he stated.

"But what about getting the job done, Captain?" he asked putting his hand back over his neck.

"Put yer hand dowvn, ye got em' rope fibers in there and ye are just pushin' them in further. Ye need to go nowv before infection spreads. Those ropes are filthy, covered in dirt, lusii blood, rat piss, and cod knowvs wvhat else. That filth is getting in yer blood stream and ye need it cleaned nowv before ye get sick…." He hissed. "As for yer wvork, don't wvorry about it. I care more about the wvell bein' of my crewv than just chores. Nowv go."

The first mate removes his hand and nodded running off to get to the infirmary. Dualscar sighed shaking his head before looking out to address his crew who was watching the first mate to see if he really was fine. He stood to where he could be seen and pointed out to where his first mate went.

"Nowv that ain't a pussy. Ye all should be more like him. Back to wvork, wve wvill havwe break in twvo hours. This wvind is goin' to kill us all," he grunted before going back to the wheel of the ship.

When break time came the wind had died down some and instead of going to a designated area, the crew dispersed about the deck of ship. Some dropped where they were and took a nap, others pulled out some fishing rods and began casting out lines over the railing, a few groups huddled together and started gambling and Vriska just stood there not sure what to do. Dualscar chuckled to himself and walked over to the confused girl.

"Not sure wvhat to do, aye?" he asked with a smirk.

"No… it's not like I really have a particular group of allies to hang around," she replied.

"Wvhy don't ye go to the infirmary and check up on me first mate? See howv he's doin'. Besides I wvould like it better if ye shelter yerself from the wvind wvhile ye got the time. Ye are so thin and yer delicate form might just blowv awvay, and that wvould just be a shame," he teased.

"Yeah yeah, is there a problem with being thin?" she scoffed.

"No but there is a difference betwveen bein' thin and looking like if ye turned sidewvays ye disappear," he laughed.

"Oh shut up," she laughed crossing her arms. "I am not that bad lookin'."

"I knowv, but ye really do needa beef up," he laughed smacking her in her arm in a playful manner. He leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Wvhy don't ye go grab a snack before ye go? I generally don't condone takin' food at a non-meal time, but ye'vwe earned it and ye sure as hell need it. The chef should be in the kitchen, but he is no trouble at all."

She smirked and nodded at him, "Aye aye Captain."

"Just don't eat any fruit. That is properly shared amongst evweryone. For reasons of scurvwy. ye know?" he said in a soft tone.

She gives him another nod and walks off to go below deck, getting out of the wind. The man who was watching her work noticed her part ways from everyone else on deck and followed after her when no one was looking. Vriska made her way into the kitchen, being greeted by the jolly chef who was getting lunch ready.

"Oi, Lassy. What brings ye into my kitchen? Witty lady like yeself is lost?" he asked chopping up some vegetables.

"Uh no… I am here for something to snack on," she replied giving the chef a small smile.

"Oh… Captain doesn't exactly approve of snackin' ye know?" he chuckled turning to face her.

"Funny thing is... Captain ordered me to get something to eat. Apparently I am as thin as paper," she said with a laugh.

"Wouldn't put it past him. He always tries an' put up that stone cold demeanor but he is a good man, but don't take his kind pleasantries for granted. He will crack skulls when he needs to. I've seen that man pull off a gator lusii's bottom jaw with his bare hands. Oh the way that bone snapped was awful and spine chillin'" he said with a shudder. "But ye should be fine honey as long as ye behave."

Vriska thought about what he said about Dualscar breaking off a lusii's jaw with his bare hands. Imagine what he could have done to her neck if he used full force when choking her last night. She shook the thought from her head and looked at the chef. He put a hand on her shoulder and grinned down at her, causing her to tense up and back up.

"Oh sorry, Hun…. didn't mean to make ye uncomfortable. Ye see…. Ye don't got to worry about me tryin' to get with ya…. Ya see… ye aren't exactly me type…. I play on a different team, if ya know what I mean," he chuckles.

"Oh…. I get what you are saying. The other crew members don't give you a hard time… about your choices?" she asked.

"Ah some are bothered by it but ye know I can't spend me life tryin' to make every ass hat happy. I am goin' to live me life the way I want and if people don't respect that then they don't get to eat…. Everyone minds their own fuckin' business, everyone eats. The chef on a ship is what helps the ship run, if the chef is pissed off, no work is done because of hunger and ship falls apart. Everyone has learned that the hard way so me choices are no longer an issue. Plus I am like one of the biggest guys on the ship, its not like they are gonna kick me ass for bein' different….. As for ye bein' a woman. Ye need to show the men that ye aren't to be messed with. Ye are as strong as them," he laughs.

"Yeah I get it, but some men just don't know limits," she sighed.

"What about the Empress? Do ye see any man tryin' to fuck with her? Or even Mindfang…. No man is messin' with that bitch. Ye need to show these men why they should fear ye and then they will respect ya," he replied. "But before ye do that, Captain is right, ye need to eat somethin'. Bein' all tiny isn't helpin'" he laughs handing her four butter rolls.

"Oh thank you, but I don't need four," she replied looking at the warm yummy looking rolls.

"Shhh… It will be our little secret Lass," he chuckles.

She smiles in thanks and walks off to the galley shoving an entire roll into her mouth and devouring it. It was sweet and the creamy butter added so much flavor, she missed food like this. She took another roll ripping the flaky warm goodness in half, excepting to take her time savoring this one but ended up just shoving both halves in her mouth at the same time. She looked at her last two with her cheeks still stuffed with rolls. She would save those for the first mate so she wrapped them up in a napkin and shoved them in her pocket.

Proceeding her way to the infirmary, she stopped at the sound of someone nearby. She turns around seeing no one which causes her to furrow her brows in concern. She started walking a little faster in her search for the infirmary, the sound of footsteps got faster as well. She growls stopping and turning around seeing a man come out of a nearby room.

"Quit following me, " she snarled before resuming her walk.

He came up and grabbed her by the waist, "No… I don't think so…"

He tosses her in the nearby room entering after her and closing the door behind him. She growls standing up putting up fists prepared to fight, she wasn't going to let this happen again. He snarled his lip, scoffing at her pathetic effort to seem menacing and approached her.

Dualscar decided to go check up on his first mate and see how he was doing. He entered the infirmary surprised to not see Vriska in there, maybe she went up on deck, or was still in the kitchen, the chef did love to chat it up. He shrugged walking over to his first mate, who was sleeping in a hammock. He smirked grabbing the ropes that hung from the ceiling and flipped the hammock making him fall to the floor with a loud thud.

"Ouch! You dick!" he yelled sitting up before laughing. "Oh fuck you too Dualscar."

"Howv ye be?" Dualscar asked with a smirk crouching by the first mate.

"A lot better, I needed seven stitches. Good call on getting my wound clean, it was pretty bad," he replied rubbing the bandages on his neck.

"So did Vwriska come in here?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"No… why?" the first mate stated.

"I told her to come vwisit ye after she got a snack…. I guess the chef is holdin' her up… I wvill be back in a minute, let me just check to see if she's alright…. She might havwe gotten lost," he chuckled.

He started down the hallway heading to the galley to see if he could find his cerulean blood castaway. Vriska was in a rather sticky situation at the moment, as the crew member had her pinned down behind some crates that were in the room. A hand was over her mouth to muffle her screams, but that didn't stop her from trying to. Dualscar stopped as he heard something, was that screaming? He thought to himself. Then there was the sounds of scuffling as she struggled, which he followed until he found the two of them behind a crate of thyralian sapphires.

"ATTENTION!" He snapped in a voice colder than the blood in his veins. "Find yer wvay above deck nowv!" he roared.

He picked the bastard up by the collar of his shirt and hurled him out into the hall; clearly pissed he was so openly defied. When he was thrown he had blood on his chest, but it wasn't Vriska's but his own thick burnt orange blood. Vriska's hands were also covered in blood, from scratching and clawing away at the flesh on his chest. When the brute was off her, she stood, running up to the sailor and began beating him senseless. His face was becoming battered, literally caving in some, and she was punching so hard the flesh from her knuckles was ripping off.

Dualscar watched on indifferently, he warned there would be punishment, this was it, or at least was her form, he wasn't done with him yet. He could definitely see the relationship to Mindfang now, as she mercilessly beat him. The cerulean from her knuckles was mixing in with his burnt orange colored blood. When the man was lying on the floor bleeding relentlessly, she got off him and delivered a strong kick to the groin before turning to face Dualscar.

"Hello Captain," she muttered looking up at him.

"Hello Vwriska, are ye alright?" he asked looking her over.

"Yeah I am just fine. I was too much for this bastard," she snarled spitting on the bloodied troll.

He nods and began walking to the stairs that led above deck, stopping to grab the pained troll by one of his horns and dragging him up the stairs. He walked slowly enough for her to keep up as she followed him out on the main deck. He leaned the troll against the mast of the ship before stomping on the deck loudly whistling general quarters, causing everyone to run up. She walked up beside Dualscar, holding her bloody hands out in front of her for all to see. He looked at her patting her gently on the back before turning to address the crew who looked from him to her and then to the bloody man.

"Some of ye may havwe thought, like this wvastrel, me wvarnin' wasn't enough, he can't be serious ovwer this can he?" he pointed to the troll who was coughing up some teeth. "As ye ALL can see he found out the hard wvay that our Lovwely Lady of the ship isn't just a pretty face among us. AYE, she did this to him, not me, HER and I say he got off pretty fuckin' easy, wvouldn't ye?! So let this!" He pulls out a saber and grabbed the man's left hand. In a moment, as quick as lightning, he sliced the man's hand off. "Be a wvarnin' to ye all…. And next time… punishment wvill be wvorse!"

When the blade sliced through the man's flesh and bone there was a blood curdling scream. Dualscar, sheathing his saber, held up the bloody dismembered appendage claiming it as his own, as blood spurted from the new nub the sailor was sporting. Vriska's eyes widened as she watched the punishment Dualscar had inflicted, she hadn't expected him to defend her honor in that sort if way. The troll screamed and groaned clutching his bloody wrist as he was riving in agony. He glared up at Vriska, giving her a look that he was going to kill her for this. Dualscar noticed this and snarled a lip in anger, as a few crew members came to collect the bloody man.

"Wait!" Dualscar yelled holding his hand up at the approaching men.

"He has gotten off to easy…. He wvon't learn his lesson… Nowv I must make an example for all of ye!" he roared.

Dualscar pulled out a pistol and shot the man quickly, effortlessly and spot on in the middle of his head. The man's brain matter and blood splattered across the deck and he fell over with a thud. Vriska let out a silent gasp and tensed up as she watched this, blood splattering up on her, even a few drops on her face. Dualscar grabbed the corpse by the horn and propped him up on the railing before letting go of the troll corpse letting it splash into the water, and sink below. He then tossed the dismembered hand over board to join its owner. He peeked over the rail noticing sharks and lusii swarming the bloody water.

"I hope this makes meself clear on my orders. As I said Vwriska is off limits, unless ye want to end up as lusii food." Dualscar tucked away his pistol and wiped his hands together looking for all the world like he didn't just kill a man. "Carry on!" he growled watching them depart.

He turned and sighed looking at Vriska, "I am sorry, I should of came wvith ye."

Vriska was still in a state of shock in what just happened, she didn't know Dualscar was that serious about keeping her safe. She would have never expected him to just slice off the crew members hand like that, let alone kill one of his own men. He sighed wiping the blood off her cheek with his thumb.

"Ye alright Lass? I didn't scare ye, did I? I am sorry, but I am a vwery serious man and unlike some people I don't play silly games," he says looking down at her.

"I am fine," she replied. "… Thank you… No one would have ever done anything like that for me."

"It's no problem. I wvant ye to be happy and feel safe. Ye havwe respected me so far and havwe done wvork like ye should plus ye make for good company. I respect ye in return," he stated pulling out his pipe and smoking it.

"Yeah, you have been the first person who has been nice to me in a sweep. Why wouldn't I respect you?" she said with a soft smile.

"Go wvash up. Plus ye are relievwed of deck duty. Wvhen ye are done wvashin' go to the infirmary and tend to me first mate and keep him company. Also see if the doctor needs anythin'. He is a hardwvorker and he is underappreciated. Try to get him to smile wvould ye?" he said with a grin.

"Aye aye, Captain," she said and went to his quarters to get the blood off.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Stolen

After washing the blood from her skin and clothes Vriska went down to the infirmary to visit the first mate and the doctor. She gently knocked on the door before opening it and stepping in; smiling over at the first mate who was playing solitaire with a deck of playing cards. The doctor was at his desk writing in a journal, he darted a glance at Vriska when she entered, but did nothing more. Vriska went over and sat down by the first mate, he smiled at her.

"Hello Lass, I see Dualscar found you. Everything alright?" he asked with a friendly smirk.

"Well… There was an issue," she muttered looking down.

"Issue? What happened?" he asked, his expression becoming serious.

"Well one of the crew members tried to take me, but Dualscar came in before anything happened…. The crew member is dead…." she replied.

"I thought I heard a gunshot…. Are you okay?" he asked looking into her eyes.

"Yeah, he didn't hurt me," she sighed softly.

He smiles at her and puts a hand on her shoulder, "Don't get glum Vriska."  
>"I can just feel the crew judging me… looking at me like meat…. Acting like I am not a real crew member…" she huffs.<p>

"Well, you don't look the part, plus you are in Mindfang's clothes…. That's why I made you something… so you like more like us," he said with a smile.

"Um what?" she asked with a confused expression.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small cloth, it was a patch of an Aquarius symbol. It was a black square with the bright violet symbol embroidered in the middle. It was for her to sew onto clothes so it matched with everyone else's, mainly because her current clothes had Mindfang's symbol on it which made it seem like that's where her loyalty lay. All the crew members had Dualscar's symbol stitched into their clothes showing they were unified.

"Here, you can sew this on your clothes and then everyone will see you belong," he replied.

She smiles taking the patch, "Wow, thanks. This means a lot."

"It's not a problem. We all have the need to feel like we belong," he says softly rubbing his neck wound.

She takes a nearby needle and thread off the doctor's desk, who didn't seem to mind that she took that due to the fact he was so busy writing in his journal at the moment. She began sewing the patch into her top, on the upper left breast section. When she was done she glanced over at a nearby mirror; it was weird seeing the Ampora symbol marked on her, she was so use to having the Serket symbol. The doctor looked over at the girl, she looked so lost in an innocent manner as she wore the symbol of her kin's enemy, and he took note of that.

"You are one of us now, Vriska," he chuckles patting her shoulder gently.

She smiled at him wishing she could show him thanks in a way, before remembering she still had the two rolls in her pocket. She pulled out the napkin she had them wrapped up in and handed it to him. They were a little squished and weren't as hot anymore, but they would still be good to eat. The first mate opened up the napkin with curiosity etched on his face before grinning wide.

"You have chef's rolls! These things are the best! Did… did you steal these?" he asked looking a bit disappointed at her if that was the case.

"No. He gave them to me. There were four but I already ate two. I was saving the rest for you," she replied.

"Oh good. I would have to report it to Captain if you were stealing," he states already beginning to shove one roll in his mouth.

"Yeah, I don't plan on stealing anything," she mutters with a shrug.

"Good," he said with a mouth full. He then glances over at the doctor and throws the other roll at him. "Here Doc."

The doctor glares at him after being hit by projectile bread before just rolling his eyes and nibbling on it. Although the doctor didn't really like anyone or anything on the ship, he could agree that the rolls did taste good. It was the one thing he actually did like when it came to the chef's food making abilities, which ninety percent of the time he questioned. The first mate smirked at the doctor as he watched the quiet man begin eating the roll.

"Good to see you eating something. All I ever see you consume is that damn herbal tea," the first mate laughed.

The doctor wiped his mouth of crumbs and looked over at the first mate with an angered glare. "Herbal tea is good. Without it I would go mad on this ship of boorish idiots. None of you make for proper conversation. It's always talk of breasts, liquor, or more breasts. The herbal tea keeps me from wanting to string myself up with a rope around my neck and jump from the crow's nest. Even then my limp dangling carcass would just give you guys something to gawk at because all of you guys derive comedy from either sex or death."

"Well then, tell me how you really feel Doc. Did somebody miss their nap time?" the first mate scoffed.

"Yes, I did actually, because your idiocy strolled in here," the doctor grumbled.

"One of these days someone is going to kick your ass and everyone will just watch. I don't know what stick got shoved up your ass, but the way you act towards us is wrigglerish at best," the first mate growled standing up.

"I don't care what you… or anyone for that matter thinks or feels about me… you are healed so run along. I want to be alone," the doc snarled.

The first mate walked out slamming the door shut, leaving Vriska alone in there. She stood and slowly walked for the door, feeling like she should go console the first mate. The doctor held out his arm stopping her and he stood from his chair with narrowed eyes.

"Look I am leaving," she muttered trying to walk past him.

"Where is your place?" he hissed.

"Uh, what do you mean? You mean like on the ship?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No…. in life. Where is your place? What are you trying to do? Where are you trying to get?" he growled remaining in a hostile demeanor.

Her expression softened, "Maybe you should ask yourself the same question before prodding into my business."

"Look, Serket! Out of everyone on this ship I hate you the most, even more than that foolish beast, Dualscar and I hate him a lot."

She growled, "Well that's your own fucking problem and I do not deserve your scorn for just trying to stay alive. I have done NOTHING to you, hell I even tried standing up for your defense. I am just trying to make my way home, and as for Dualscar, I don't know what your beef is with him, but he is no beast from what I have seen. He is just a man… a troll, like you."

"That MAN! That man blew up my ship in the middle of a fight with your bitch Ancestor! They thought it was such a good fucking idea to show off their black rom right next to a harbor. My ship got stuck in the cross fire and we got boarded by pirates. Mindfang's crew either stole or killed whoever they found and Dualscar just blew up the fucking ship in attempts to maim Mindfang! So I was hurled out into the water and Dualscar took me in," he yelled.

"Well I can understand your hate at Mindfang and frustrations with Dualscar, but the man… he gave you shelter and from the looks of it treats you pretty well, and as for me I don't understand why you hate me for what they did," she sighed.

"Because Serkets are evil! Mindfang kidnapped my matesprit! She killed my new born grubs! You, you are that wenches spawn! The spawn of pure evil! I don't fucking understand why that evil woman's wriggler gets to live while mine, and I was nothing but a good man, get to be fucking squished under her scarlet heels!" he snarled.

She frowns and sighs, "Mindfang didn't want me to be alive either…. She made me a prisoner on her ship and let her crew do horrible things to me. The only reason why I am here is because she tossed me overboard, thinking I was dead and Dualscar found me. I know what it feels like to be alone and feel like you have nothing left."

"You… you were on her ship… Was there a woman there?! Long hair down to her knees? Olive blood? Short? She… she has a tattoo of a butterfly on her neck…" he asked distraught.

She shook her head sadly, "No…"

He sighed sitting down in his chair putting his head in his hands. "So she really is gone…" He looked over at a container of tea packets. "She always loved tea. I hated it, but she made me drink it. Said it was good for me."

She kneels beside his chair and cautiously puts a hand on his arm. "I am sorry. I know you hate Mindfang for this… but trust me... I am no Mindfang… I would never do anything like that… she hurt me too, and I plan on killing her for it and when I kill her, I will kill her in your honor as well."

He looks at her, "Bring me her head."

"Yeah, I will…. So if you don't like being here why be here? I doubt Dualscar is keeping you captive…" she replies.

"I got nothing else… I couldn't force myself into going back to my hive, not without her… or my grubs…" he sighs.

She pats his arm and frowns, "I am sorry, but look at the positives you are safe here and Dualscar nor any of the crew will hurt you. Sure, you might not feel accepted here, but if it means anything, I can be your friend."

He looks at her and smiles some, "Thanks…. Sorry I was mean to you. I am just taking out my anger on the wrong person… everyone just seems to piss me off since… well you know… I am just so frustrated."

"Well, bottling it all up…. Only hurts more…" she mutters.

"Seems like you have your own issues bottled up," he replied.

"It's just Mindfang, was the woman I idolized, I loved her and she hurt me. She let her men abuse me and then laughed in my face as I showed her my pain. I always thought she was a great woman, but everything I knew was a lie. She never even loved me and I bet right now she doesn't even remember my existence. Idolizing her was the true thing that made me happy, but that is gone," she muttered.

"Must be hard," he sighs.

She nods sitting down on the floor next to the doctor's chair. The doctor was actually happy to have someone to talk to; it had been a long time since he actually had an actual conversation with someone. The crew on this ship wasn't really the best to talk to when it came to intellectual or emotional topics, but luckily Vriska was. After a few hours Dualscar stepped into the infirmary and looked at the two.

"I see ye twvo havwe made friends…. It's dinner time," he said with a smirk.

"Yeah we have been talking," Vriska said standing up.

The doctor got quiet and walked past the two deciding to go to the galley. Vriska looked up at Dualscar and gave him a soft smile. He saw her Aquarius patch and looked at it curiously, before grinning some.

"I like the newv addition to yer outfit…. So I wvanted to see if ye wvanted to join me for dinner in me quarters instead of in the galley. I don't think any of the crewv really wvant to be around ye after wvhat happened earlier today," he replied scratching the back of his head.

"Sure, that would be nice. I could go for some food," she says with a smile.

They walked into his cabin and there was a table set out with a large bowl of crayfish along with butter, and a bowl for shells. He unhooked his cape hanging it up before taking a bottle of fine liquor from a cabinet. Vriska smirked at the sight of the liquor and food, causing her stomach to rumble. She quickly took a seat and grabbed the one of the steaming shellfish from the bowl.

"I love crayfish…" she said with a grin cracking one open.

Why wouldn't she? It required breaking stuff to eat them, perfect for trolls like them. "Ye havwe good taste," he replied sitting beside her.

She began cracking one after the other devouring the little morsels with ferocity. Dualscar sat back and watched with a wide eyed gaze, as she consumed her delicious sea dwelling victims. She realized her gluttony and looked at him embarrassed slurping up the juices from the shell.

"Sorry…." she chuckles.

He just hands her the bottle of liquor and laughs, "Good to see ye eatin'."

"Yeah… I just… really like crayfish… I like sucking the heads," she chuckles grabbing the bottle.

"Ye wvhat?" he asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

She blushes dark and growls at him, "You and I both know what I meant, you pervert."

"Wvell wvhen ye say somethin' like that I am goin' to say somethin' about it," he chuckles.

"You still know what I meant," she mutters still blushing.

"Aye aye, I am just teasin' just don't say anythin' like that around the other men. They wvill givwe ye more than a hard time about it and that's somethin' ye don't need," he says with a smile.

She looked away from him letting her embarrassed blush fade away from her face. She took a sip from the bottle of liquor setting it down on the table in front of them. Dualscar took two crayfish at once cracking them open to fish out the flakey meat from inside. He discarded the shells in the bowl once he was done eating them. Once the bowl was full of empty shells he gathered it and walked over to a window, opening it up and discarding the shells into the water below.

He returned to sit on his bed, running his hand through his hair somewhat tiredly. Vriska yawned and unhooked the armored corset from that ridiculous battle dress she was wearing; her clothes were now loose but comfier. She took a seat on her mat, her dress hiking up some exposing some bruises on her legs she had acquired from her struggle with the crew member who attacked her. Dualscar noticed and sighed lying back on his bed, he needed to be on guard more.

"I am sorry Vwriska," he muttered sadly closing his eyes.

"For what?" she asked looking up at him confused.

"For letting' ye get attacked. He didn't … he didn't do anything right? I mean even touchin'…" he mumbled glancing over at her.

"I'm fine, he didn't do anything … I don't think it will happen again," she whispered.

He nods locking his hands together and cracking all of his knuckles after a day of hard work. He closed his eyes and kicked off his boots letting them crash onto the floor. He knew he needed rest; tomorrow he would be facing swarms of lusii to kill. After a few minutes he was out like a light, and Vriska fell asleep shortly after him.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Trespass

There was a large crashing noise and the sounds of screaming and yelling that jolted Vriska awake from her mat. She looked around the room growing concerned at the noises coming up from deck. She looked at Dualscar's bed, noticing he wasn't there, along with Ahab's crosshairs that was usually hung up on the wall. She then noticed something was off, the leveling of the ship was slanted to the side instead of flat. She jumped to her feet, quickly putting on her armor for her dress and ran up on deck.

It was grim out, although it was day, the sky was a sickly grayish blue and it was raining down hard. The crew was running around in utter chaos as the bow of the ship was being attack by a mass of tentacles that was coming from the water, and the mast of the ship was hooked up with another foreign ship's. Both ships were in an uncomfortable slanted position causing anything that wasn't tied down to roll off the edge and anyone who didn't have good footing to slip and stumble. Dualscar's crew was at battle with the crew from the other ship's, who were boarding. The Orphaner himself was stuck up on the bow firing his weapon at the lusus who was attacking. A tentacle wrapped around his ankle and was tugging him towards the edge, but he did his best to stand firm ground.

It was apparent that the Orphaner's crew couldn't see their Captain in danger as they continued battling away with the opposing crew. Vriska knew she had to help him, so she ran as fast as she could without losing her footing. She ran up to him, looking around for something that could help before noticing a sword in a sheath he had on his belt. She grabbed the hilt of the sword pulling it out from its sheath and struck the tentacle around his leg, cutting it off. There was a spine chilling screech that caused some men to cover their ears and the dismembered appendage squirmed frantically around on the deck.

Dualscar looked over to see who just saved his skin, his eyes widening at the sight of the young girl. He opened his mouth about to say something but another tentacle began to lunge for him. Vriska got a firm grip on her sword and took action, slicing off the slimy arm. Dualscar grit his teeth and turn his attention back to the beast getting better footing on the slick deck. She stood by his side striking and slicing at any tentacles that got near them. The Orphaner shot her a glare as the beast was beginning to back off slightly.

"WVHAT THE FUCK ARE YE DOIN' OUT HERE?" he yelled, he wasn't angry at her he was only yelling so she could hear over the roars from the beast, and the screaming and yelling from the men.

"I heard trouble so I came to help!" she yelled back keeping her attention on the beast.

"That's good and all but ye need to get back in me quarter's ye are safer there!" he replied shooting his weapon at the lusus.

"I am going to help Dualscar! I can fight!" she yelled.

Sure, Vriska was a woman and was seen as inferior to the rest of the crew, but she knew how to old her own and fight. She grew up always in a survival mode due to the fear of being eaten alive, she learned how to defend herself and use a sword. Dualscar wasn't telling her to hide because he thought she was weak, but because he wanted her to be safe. He looked at her as if she was still a young wriggler, and as ironic as it was for him being the Orphaner he was _"daddying" _her as if she was his own.

"I don't wvant ye getting' hurt!" he snarled.

"I am going to help! Am I or am I not a member of this crew!? We stick together!" she yelled.

His expression softened for a moment before letting out an angered growl, "Fine! Patrol belowv deck, I think some of those scoundrels got dowvn there. Kill anyone wvho isn't one of ours, regardless of howv they are, if ye can't tell look for me symbol on the clothin' of course. If things get to dicey I wvant ye to run and hide in me quarters! That's an ORDER!"

"Aye, Captain," she yells gripping the hilt of her sword tightly and runs off to the door that led below deck.

Dualscar looked at the sword she held, it was one he had stolen from Mindfang sweeps ago. It was an older model of the sword Mindfang currently carried, lacking the barbed hook her new one had. It was a brighter shade of cerulean and it was smaller and lightweight, being used when Mindfang was about Vriska's age. He stole it from her, and used it as his personal lusii killer due to the fact the blade was so sharp, fine, and accurate it could split a hair in half vertically. The sword was perfect for Vriska, but it gave Dualscar a strange sense of déjà vu he couldn't fully understand.

Vriska made her way below deck, where it was eerily quieter compared to the havoc on the deck above. It was dark here so she could only make out the shapes of things close by. She held her sword up walking with it in front of her, prepared to strike those who might attack. It would be hard to tell the difference between the two crews so she just hoped she made the right call. There was the sound of crashing pans coming from the nearby galley; hopefully it was just the chef.

She entered they galley, having some relief seeing there was proper lighting here. She looked around the galley seeing it was clear, but the door to the kitchen was wide open and yelling was coming from there. Walking into the kitchen she saw the chef armed with just a meat cleaver as two men approached him with swords. She growled running up and taking one of the men's heads off, it falling to the floor with a thud and rolling across to the wall. The other man watched the beheaded body fall to the floor, teal blood spurting from its neck. He glared at Vriska growling and lunged for her before gasping as a cleaver cut down the middle of his head, getting stuck halfway down the forehead. The chef, who held the other end of the cleaver, pulled the bloody utensil free, the man's skull making a disgusting cracking sound. The body fell to the floor next to the corpse lacking a head, blood pooling around the two.

"Thanks Lassy, ye saved me arse," the chef laughed in a morbidly nervous manner.

Vriska nodded looking the chef over with a concerned expression. The chef was clutching his right side, a good amount of burgundy colored blood dripping down his side and covering his hand. She looked at him worried taking a step closer which caused him noticed what she was looking at and sighed.

"Lass I am fine. Nothin' the doc can't patch up," he muttered managing a weak yet reassuring smile.

"O-okay… did you see anymore of the other crew?" she asked.

"Y-yeah, a group about three of them went down towards the direction of the cargo hold," he muttered. He opens up a cabinet and pulled out a heavy duty metal flashlight handing it to her. "Here, it's dark down there."

She takes the flash light and whispers, "Okay, I am going to go after them. Be safe here."

He gives her a nod and leans against the counter as he watches her run off. Once back in the hall she turned on the flash light, making sure it was a dimmer setting so it wasn't so obvious to the opponents she was coming. She gripped the flash light with one hand, holding it up by the side of her face, while she had her sword in the other. She took slow cautious steps as she descended the steps into the cargo hold. She remained calm and collected; it was just like going down to check on her spider mom back at her hive. Once in the cargo hold she quickly glanced around seeing nothing but crates and chests. Assuming they men left the cargo hold she turned to go back up to the hall, but was suddenly grabbed by the hair and pulled to the floor.

She grunted as she was slammed against the floor, banging her head on the wood pretty hard. She dropped flash light, it rolling off into the darkness behind some crates. Her sword landed beside her, and as she went to reach for it her hand was stepped on, cracking a few ligaments. She could hear the sound of her sword slide across the floor as it got kicked away into the shadows. She hissed in pain and anger lifting her head up to look, her vision a bit doubled from hitting her head but she could see a figure standing over her. It pointed a sword to her neck making her lay her head back down on the floor.

"I got one!" an unfamiliar voice yelled.

Another figure emerged from the shadows; he was holding a lantern so the darkness around them was lit up. The second one seemed out of breath and a bit on edge as he looked over at his companion. The first narrowed his eyes as he looked over the woman he had caught.

"Shit! You got the fucking Marquise!" the second yelled.

"Ah it can't be her….. The fuckin' Marquise doesn't wear fuckin' glasses. Besides…. This girl it too young to be that damn woman," the first snarled.

"But look at the clothes! The horns! The fucking eye! Its got seven pupils! It has to be her!" the lantern holder snarled.

"It can't be! It must be her kin or somethin'" the sword wielder retorted.

As the two argued Vriska was looking around for a way to get out of this and back to her sword. She looked down at her steel toed scarlet boots and then at the groin of the one who stood over her. It was worth a shot, she thought and kicked up into the man's groin with a direct hit. He groaned in pain falling into the man with the lantern, making him drop it. The lantern fell to the floor breaking, making their source light go out. Vriska took this opportunity to crawl over to a glow that was coming from her flashlight that was behind a crate. She grabbed the flashlight, the bulb flickering and going out. Damn it, she thought hitting the flashlight against her palm, she really needed the light to find where her sword went off to.

As she was trying to get the light to work one of the men tackled her to the floor. She snarled struggling to get free as he worked his hands around her throat. She looked at the flash light in her hand and hit him in the temple with it, the glass shattering into his skin. The man growled grabbing the side of his head in pain giving Vriska the opportunity to jab the end with the jagged broken bulb into his eye. He screamed in pain grabbing his face in pain, and she punched him in the face making him fall back. She stood up taking the sharp heel of her boot and bringing it down on the man's face with full force. The sharp heel buried its way into his skull, busting through into his soft doughy brain.

Vriska gagged vomiting a little on the floor as she felt the brain squish under her foot. She shuddered gritting her teeth as she tried to free her heel, which was stuck in the man's skull, from his head. She tugged shaking her foot some, finally getting the corpse off her. She took a step back but slipped due to her one boot being slick and coated in blood. She grunted as she fell flat on her ass and one of her hands crushing against the wood as it tried to catch herself. She looked around only seeing dark shapes but nothing more.

Vriska suddenly felt a powerful force hit her in the chest and she fell back on the floor. The sword wielder had kicked her in the chest and was now standing on top of her with one foot. She grabbed at his ankle with her hands trying to get him off, but it was no use. He snarled raising his sword above his head ready to bring the blade down into her skull. Vriska moved her hands across the floor feeling for anything that she could have used to defend herself with. Her hand landed on something sharp, slicing her palm open, causing her to hiss in pain before realizing it was her sword. She grabbed the dull side of her sword pulling the weapon to her giving her the chance to now grab the hilt. With a swift swing she sliced the man's leg in half making him fall over with a loud scream.

"YOU BITCH! YOU FUCKIN' BITCH!" he screamed grasping at his bloody numb of a leg.

Vriska stood up breathing heavily as she clutched the hilt of her sword a bit shaken. She looked down at the man raising the sword over her head and crashing the sharp tip down into his head. She looked away as she pulled the blade away from the corpse, blood squirting out of the head wound. She huffed taking a step back to catch her breath before turning and walking back up the stairs.

The Serket girl walked back into the hallway, it was much brighter now, and suddenly she crashed into the wall then onto the floor as the ship went back to a level position. The two masts must have gotten undone, she thought as she slowly stood. When she stood she saw another figure that was lying on the floor in the hallway slowly stand. She growled walking up to it with her sword ready to strike at it. She froze though as she looked the troll over, it was a woman pirate. The woman held up her hands surrendering to Vriska; she was bloody with multiple bruises and lacerations all over her.

"Please…. I surrender… I … I am not going to do anything… I … I got lost from my group and was looking for bandages…. Please… I am not going to do anything… Don't kill me…" the woman pleaded.

Vriska gritted her teeth contemplating what to do with her. She didn't want to kill the woman, she didn't seem like a threat, but then again Dualscar said to kill anyone who wasn't of their crew. Vriska sighed and looked at the woman with apologetic eyes.

"I am sorry," Vriska whispered and plunged the sword through the pirate woman's heart.

The woman let out a sickly gasp her eyes rolling into the back of her head as she crashed down onto her knees. The blade slid out of her body as she collapsed, covered in a thick cerulean blood. Vriska bit her lip looking down at the female's face, it was wide eyed and in a look of heart break. The Serket sighed crouching down beside the girl and dragging two fingers over her eye lids, closing them. The girl was a little younger than Vriska, by about a sweep or so. Vriska stood and closed her eyes shaking her head upset with herself.

"I'm sorry," she whispers and begins making her way back on deck.

The deck was a lot calmer now as the crew got to collecting themselves and catching their breath. The sky had cleared up and the sun was slowly peaking from the clouds. The other ship was being raided by some of Dualscar's men, and the other crew was no where in sight other than their bodies on the ground, that were being collected and thrown overboard. Dualscar was on the bow of his ship wiping off his hands after throwing the last of the tentacles from the beast into the water. A crew member saw Vriska and walked up to her with a bit of a smirk.

"Ye look like shit, Lass," he chuckles patting her shoulder.

"Shut the fuck up, you idiotic pig" she said in a monotone voice giving him an unamused glare and a raised middle finger.

The other crew members who saw this let out a wrigglerish _'Ohhhh' _and laugh at the one who antagonized her. He looked around flushing some as he was demeaned by the much smaller girl. He backed up and retreated over to the railing to look out at the ocean, to embarrassed to talk to anyone.

Vriska walks up to Dualscar who was looking through the cross hairs of his weapon. She gently taps him on the shoulder to get his attention, and he turns to look down upon her.

"Oi, Vwris. Ye okay, Lass? Ye look beat…. Wvhat happened?" Dualscar asked brushing some hair that was plastered to her forehead with sweat to the side.

"Yeah, I'm fine Captain," she says with a soft smile. "There were some men but they are taken care of."

"Really? Howv many? Ye did it all by ye self?" he asks genuinely surprised.

"Yeah. There were five of them, I killed four and the chef killed one," she replies brushing some more hair from her face.

Dualscar nodded furrowing his brows grabbing her sword and sheathing it before grabbing the girl's hand she was using to wipe her hair away with. Three of her fingers were snapped backwards in a gruesome looking way, plus she had a cut open palm. She gasped, she hadn't even realized she had bent her fingers back, she never even felt that pain.

"Wvhat happened to yer hand?!" he asked looking at it.

"I… I don't know… it must have been when I fell…. I didn't even feel it…." she replied looking at him concerned.

He sighs chuckling a little, "Must havwe been adrenaline kicking. This can be easily fixed. Let's go to the infirmary."

He puts a hand on her back and guides her down towards the infirmary. He stops seeing the dead woman in the hall and looks over at Vriska with a remorseful expression. He pats her back and walks around the dead girl.

"Ye did the right thing Vwris. Sometimes wve do things wve regret but the choices wve make, make us wvho wve are. Ye followved me orders, ye respected me as a Captain and that makes me vwery proud of ye. Ye are a good girl…. A good pirate Vwriska. Be happy, be proud of yerself. That girl she wvas… just another obstacle… but ye ovwer came it. Ye showv yer potential," he sighed giving her a weak smile.

She nods with a morbid expression on her face before smiling back. "Yeah, you are right. Thanks."

The two get to the infirmary, walking in to see the doctor finish patching up the chef's wound. Both the chef and doctor smile at Vriska as she enters the room, Dualscar followed behind. The chef stood nodding to the doctor, then Dualscar, before leaving the room. The doctor looked at Vriska as she took a seat in a chair beside him.

"What is the issue Vriska?" he asked.

"Can you fix up her hand?" Dualscar asked, grabbing Vriska's wrist and showing off the mangled fingers and sliced palm.

"Oh… Yeah… " He looks at Vriska with a look for forgiveness. "I am sorry."

She cocks a brow, "Sorry for what?"

The doctor looks at Dualscar, "Can you…. Hold her?"

"Wait?! What!? Why do I need to be held!?" she yelled squirming away.

Dualscar grabbed her wrist pinning it to the desk, his other arm wrapped tightly around her to keep her from struggling. The doctor sighed grabbing one of the bent back fingers and bent if forward a grotesque popping sound being made. Vriska screamed in pain struggling to get her wrist free from Dualscar's grip. The doctor put a small splint on the fixed finger.

"Ye are doin' fine Vwris….Ye got twvo more…." Dualscar whispered trying to calm her.

The doctor took the second bent back finger repeating the same process. Vriska hissed loudly this time, still squirming against Dualscar. The Captain stroked her hair, shoosh papping her, in order to calm her down.

"Yer okay, just one more…" he said in a soothing tone.

She nods hissing in pain and shutting her eyes tightly in preparation for this. The doctor snaps the finger back into position as fast as he could, making her whimper sadly. He puts a splint on her third finger and gets to just cleaning up the cut on her palm to prevent infection. Luckily it didn't need stitches so he just wraps up her entire hand in bandages, wrapping each finger individually. Dualscar lets go of her and rubs her shoulders gently.

"Ye did well; I remember the first time I bent me fingers back. I almost cried like a wvriggler, and that wvas actually wvhen I just bent them. Imagine howv I wvas wvhen I got em' back in place," Dualscar laughed.

She looks at him rubbing her hand, "You? Orphaner Dualscar? Almost cried?"

"Wvell that wvas before I evwen wvas Dualscar…" he chuckled.

"How old were you?" she asked.

"Wvell…. Uh…. four swveeps…" he chuckled

Vriska frowns, "Dualscar…. You were a wiggler… That makes me feel worse…"

He chuckles, "Oh yeah….."

She gives him a flat expression and sighs, "It's not funny…"

"Oh Vwris, ye did a good job today," he says standing putting a hand on her shoulder. "Go wvash up. Ye can wvear one of me tunics and pants if ye wvant. Ye deservwe a break from these clothes, plus they be bloody. "

She smiles some, "Okay, thanks."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

National Treasure

Vriska stepped out of the shower wrapping a violet fluffy towel tightly around her to dry off. She had picked out a white long sleeve tunic and some black pants from Dualscar's wardrobe to wear, having them neatly set on the bathroom counter. Once properly dried off she put on the shirt, the faint smell of cologne was engrained in the fabric. She then slid on the pants; they were a bit loose so she tucked in the shirt to help keep them from falling.

She looked over herself in the mirror, the shirt was baggy and hung low so exposed her cleavage. She wasn't about to walk around like that, so she dug around in the drawers of the bathroom counter until she pulled out some medical bandages. She pulled up her shirt exposing her breasts; she was a lot bigger than she thought she was, she took the bandages wrapping them around her chest. Once she was properly covered she pulled her shirt back down, and tucked it back into her pants. She looked at herself again in the mirror, deciding to do something with her hair. She ripped a thin piece from the bandage roll and used it to tie her hair back.

Once properly dressed she smiled a little as she gazed at herself in the mirror. She sighed a little looking at her black lips and eye lashes, she missed the artificial blue coloring she put on them. She ran a finger over her plum bottom lip; it was no longer chapped nor had cuts on it. Huffing through her nose some she looked away from the mirror going over to the bathroom door. Just as she opened it, Dualscar was standing there with his hand up ready to knock.

"Oi, lass, feel better?" he asked with a smile.

"Yeah, a lot better. It was nice to get an outfit change," she says with a smile.

"That's good. I wvill get yer clothes down to the wvashin' room and get them clean," he says" still with a smile. "I got somethin' for ye…" he hands her the sword she had used. "I think ye should keep this… sure it wvas Mindfang's but I think yer better wvith it anyway. Ye need a wveapon and this one looks good wvith ye."

She took the sword setting it down on the counter. "Thanks, it's a nice sword," she says with a smile before sighing some.

"Ye okay?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah… it's just….I miss my makeup…. It's weird the things you miss when you don't have them. Its funny how something so small can…. Can make me feel a little sad," she chuckles followed by a sigh.

He sighs before smiling a little, "I think I can help."

"You have makeup? Is the Orphaner Dualscar secretly a drag queen?" she asked giggling.

"Wvhat? No!…" he yells before groaning. "Come wvith me…."

Dualscar walks over to his wardrobe and opened it up pulling out the old chest again. He opened it up and fished out a small cobalt blue makeup bag from it. He tossed it at Vriska and smiled softly, before turning to put the chest back in his wardrobe. He stood up straight and turned to look at her.

"That should do the trick. It's Fang's old stuff, but I mean it is make up and I assume it is the color ye like… it is better than nothing'," he says softly.

Vriska looks at the makeup bag her eyebrow twitching slightly, something about this was pissing her off. She gripped the bag tightly in her hand, her fist shaking slightly in anger. She snarled a lip gritting her teeth so tightly if she applied anymore force she would break her teeth. She glared up at Dualscar looking into his eyes with hatred.

"Do you just have a Mindfang shrine or something? You give me her clothes, then her sword, now her make up…. Are you trying to make me her? Trying to make me the Mindfang you want?!" she hissed.

He frowns, "Vwriska…. No… that's not it at all… I can understand if it's upsettin' that ye havwe to use the stuff of the wvoman that hurt ye, but I am not makin' ye use this stuff because I wvant another Fang, fuck that's the last thing I wvant… I am just tryin' to accommodate ye… I don't havwe anythin' for a wvoman other than the shit Mindfang left behind… I am sorry ye are gettin' her stuff… but … look… ye're not her… ye wvill nevwer be her… ye are yer owvn person…ye are Vwriska and no amount of similar clothin' and accessories wvill evwer change that…."

She whimpers behind grit teeth and closes her eyes tightly turning her back to him. She held her arms and looked down at the floor tears falling from her eyes. She shook a little putting her hands over her face. Dualscar's fins drooped and he took a step towards her cautiously holding his hand out to touch her.

"Vwris…." he whispered.

Crying was now clearly audible as she shook more in grieving. He sighs frowning unsure what to do to help her; he had never really had to do anything like this. How could he deal with a crying woman? He didn't have to handle these types of situations because he was on a ship full of men, and they never cried, well in front of each other, and Mindfang never showed any form of sadness. He grits his teeth and leaned in putting a hand on her shoulder turning her body to face him. His firm arms wrap around her, pulling her into a tight hug resting his chin on top of her head between her horns. The tips of his fins flushed a slight violet along with his cheeks, he hadn't hugged a girl like this in a long time. He put a hand on the back of her head petting it gently, mindful to keep it from getting caught in her soft hair.

"Vwriska…. Swveetie…. It's okay…. Please don't cry… ye make me feel like shit to see such a pretty girl cry… Don't cry… it is okay…" he whispers into her ear.

She sniffles looking away from him awkwardly, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be… I can understand wvhy ye're upset… evwerythin' wvill be okay. Ye are apart of me crewv, and I wvill take care of ye… I wvill make sure ye wvill get back home safely…" he sighs.

She looks up at him wiping her tears, and sighs, "Thanks…"

He releases her from the hug and grabs her chin, "At next port before ye leavwe I wvill buy ye some new clothes and an entire makeup kit, so ye don't havwe to go back to yer hivwe in her clothes…"

"No Dualscar…. I am fine…" she looks down at the makeup bag and smiles. "It will just be nice to have the luxury of makeup now."

The young Serket walks back into the bathroom, gazing upon herself in the mirror. She opened up the bag pulling out some blue lipstick, applying it to her lips. She then took off her glasses followed by grabbing some mascara and putting it on her eye lashes. She put her glasses back on and looked at herself in the mirror. She felt like her old self again, and she smiled. Dualscar saw her smile, and it warmed his sea weathered heart a little.

"That is better," she chuckles walking back up to him.

"Good… nowv that all is good, I got somethin' to showv ye. Come…" he said with a smile walking out of his room.

Vriska followed behind him out of the room and down the hall into a room. The room was full of gold and treasures, a few men sorting through it, putting it in different piles based on categories. Vriska's eyes widened at the sight of all the treasure, she loved treasure with a passion. Dualscar grinned at that twinkle in her eyes and lightly pushed her forward towards one of the piles.

"Pick out yerself somethin' nice. Ye earned it," he whispered.

She looked back at him, "I can't … I can't take your treasure."

"All members of me crewv get to pick out somethin' for themselves wvhen wve get a treasure haul. That ship that attacked us wvas full of gold. Ye pickin' out one thing wvon't hurt anythin' so get maybe some piece of jewelry… if that's yer thing," he chuckles.

Her eyes grow wide and she smirks stepping forward to analyze one treasure pile for something she would want. She picks up a thick gold chain link bracelet that was lined with sapphires. She smiled putting it on her wrist, the gold contrasting with her light grey skin. Dualscar walked up behind her putting a hand on her shoulder.

"It looks lovwely on ye," he chuckles.

"You think so?" she asked with a smile.

"Aye, ye look beautiful," he replies smiling.

Vriska blushed slightly at that, no one had ever really said anything like that in a genuine manner. "Really? You think I am beautiful?" she asked looking up ay him.

He flushed a bit becoming flustered, "Wwell…um… wwell…Dinner is ready. Howv about wve go to the galley? Ye can sit at the Captain's table wvith me, ye earned it."

She smiles softly and nods, "Yeah I would enjoy that."

The Captain and his collogue made their way to the galley, the smell of freshly cooked meat filling up their nostrils. Dualscar took a seat at the head of the table pulling out the chair next to him for Vriska to sit. She sat down on the seat and gazed around the being able to see everyone since she was at the head table. She felt really special that Dualscar had taken enough of a liking of her to let her sit with him at the loyal table. The first mate sat down beside Vriska setting down a plate of fresh lusus steak in front of her.

"I see you made it up to the head table, Vriska," the first mate said with a smile.

"Yeah, the Captain says I have earned it," she replied taking a bite of steak.

The first mate leaned in to whisper in her ear, "I think the Captain is… how you say… crushing on you."

She blushed, "I doubt it … I am a Serket…"

"He is … kinder when you are around… and he smiles a lot now too since you came along," the first mate chuckles.

She blushes darker, "It must be coincidence."

"It isn't . You've worked your charms on him. Not just anyone sits up at the captain's table," he mutters with a smirk.

Dualscar looked over, "Wvhat are ye twvo talkin' about?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Oh you know, I was telling her about your amazing lusii kills," the first mate replied with a smug smirk patting Vriska's back.

"Oh yeah? The one today put on a hell of the fight, but none of them wvill beat me," Dualscar said with a proud cocky grin.

"Was that one gygolobobo or whatever it's called? You know the Condescension's lusus?" she asked.

"I think ye mean Gl'bgolyb, Swveetie. And no, if that wvas Gl'bgolyb wve wvould all be doomed. It wvas just a much smaller lusus from her but it was pretty big compared to regular lusii. It wvill suffice Gl'bgolyb greatly. Wve wvon't be wvorryin' about her for a wvhile," he stated proud of his work.

She smiles and takes a bite off food, "Well that is good I suppose, who were those people who attacked us today?"

"Just some pirates wvho thought they could take a cheap hit at us. Wve showved them, they had a ton of gold. Ye did wvell," he replied smiling, giving her a pat on the back.

She smiles looking down at her bracelet tracing one of her fingers along one of the sapphires. The first mate nudged her arm with his elbow wriggling his eyebrows as he sipped from a glass of rum. Vriska furrowed her brows blushing and shook her head in protest, the captain would never want her, and he was just being nice because she was a girl. The Serket stuffed her face with a slab of lusus meat and began chewing in the tender protein. Dualscar looked over at Vriska and smiled softly to himself, she was so sweet and innocent looking.

After a little bit dinner was over and Vriska stayed back to help the chef clean up the messes and clean the dishes. Dualscar went to his room deciding to take a shower; he always did enjoy the cold fresh water over his gills. He stripped out of his Orphaner gear and looked over his self in the mirror, looking over his many scars with a sigh. Gritting his teeth he thought of all of the foolish mistakes and weaknesses he had that gave him these that faltered his mighty appearance.

Once he finished up showering he got dressed in a simple black shirt and his purple and black pinstriped pants. He looked at his face rubbing a hand over his chin feeling his facial hair growing out; he hadn't gotten a shave in a while. He always liked having clean shaven face so he didn't look so wild and roughed, yet honorable and well kempt. He opened up a drawer pulling out a straight blade razor and sighed looking over the blade, he always hated doing this, and he always had someone to do this for him. His ear fins twitched perking up at the sound of Vriska outside the door, she was probably bedding down on her mat.

"Vwriska?" he called out cracking the door open. "Can ye help me wvith somethin'?"

"Um sure… what?" she asked standing up and walking to the door.

He opens it up and looks down at her. "Do ye knowv howv to shavwe a face?"

"Um I can try I suppose… why can't you do it?" she asked.

"Wvell I did havwe a guy for it, but he is gone," Dualscar replied.

"What happened to him?"

"Remember that guy I killed, the one wvho messed wvith ye?" he asked looking to the side.

"Oh… I am sorry you had to kill him," she replied feeling a bit bad.

"Don't be sorry. He disobeyed me. I wvould of killed me first mate if he did the same thing. I am a man of me wvord… but can ye do it? Me hands are too big to hold this tiny blade and I knowv I am going to stab meself by accident… I figured since yer a girl ye wvould havwe that… delicate touch… Ye knowv?" he said becoming a bit flustered.

"Um okay…" she chuckled awkwardly.

She steps in the bathroom going over to the counter and grabbing the straight blade. She looks at it blushing slightly before looking back up at him. "You trust me to do this? I am going to put a razor to your face."

"Aye, just be easy… Okay?" he muttered.

She nods washing up the blade in the sink while Dualscar began to soap up his face. She took the blade to his face and gently pressed the razor across his skin removing the hair. He took a deep breath tensing up, afraid of his stress disorder grasping him. She looked in his eyes reassuring him that everything was going to be okay, seeing that look in her eyes calmed him down greatly. After a bit she finished up shaving his face and washed up the rest of his face cleaning it up.

"Thanks Vwriska, I look great. I hate doin' that," he muttered before smiling at her.

She smiled and patted his shoulder. "Anything for you Captain."

He just kept his smiled back at her.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Racing Wvith the Moon

It was the middle of the night when Vriska felt someone shaking her shoulder to wake her. Her eyes slowly flutter open as she raises her hands up to stretch seeing the blurred outlines of her fingers before reaching over putting her glasses on having her gaze fall upon Dualscar. She sat up rubbing her eyes from under her glasses with a loud yawn. Dualscar smiles down at her holding his ring covered hand out for her to take. She furrows her brows taking his hand as he helps her stand to her feet.

"Dualscar… it is the middle of the night…" She mutters yawning again.

"I got to showv ye somethin'!" he chuckles.

"Is it so important you got to wake me up?" she asks.

"Ye wvill like it…" he says with a smirk.

She rolls her eyes giggling some, "This better be good."

Captain Dualscar led Vriska out on deck walking up to the bow of the ship looking out over the sea. Although it was the middle of the night the sky was light purplish blue sprinkled with sparkling stars. The waters were calm except for the many ripples caused by sea dwelling lusii jumping out of the water and diving back in. The waters were littered with tons of lusii minding their own business as they swam along side the ship. Vriska smiled as the breeze blew about her hair as she enjoyed the view of the ocean.

"Wow… this is… this is beautiful…" she states looking out at the ocean with a smile.

He looks her over smiling at the twinkle in her eye, he found it was nice seeing those big lovely eyes full of wonder and joy and not sorrow. "…Yeah it is beautiful."

Vriska looks over and smiles, "I always did love the sea."

"Wvhy do ye lovwe it so much? I mean what's not to lovwe, but it seems like the ocean holds some special importance to ye… Ye don't havwe to share if ye don't wvant to… I am just curious," he replies.

"Well, my hive was on this cliff that over looked the sea, so I would wake up everyday to a gorgeous view… You see… I didn't exactly have a loving lusus… so when I was upset… I would walk down to the beach… it was so calming… it made me happy again… it was just an escape from the troubles I had to face," she sighs leaning against the railing.

"Wvhat did yer lusus do?" he asked his face growing even more curious but in a somber sort of manner.

"Beat me, yell at me, make fun of me…. Make me kill people," she muttered under her breath.

"Wvhat?" he asked furrowing his brow.

"I had to feed her… if I didn't I would be on the menu… I didn't want to but I had to learn that no matter what the world revolves around killing. It is everywhere, and to survive you got to kill. I didn't want to die by her fangs so I forced others to face the same fate. She's gone now thankfully," she sighs.

"Wvhat happened to her?" he asks stepping closer.

"I killed her," she stated bluntly looking back at the ocean.

His eyes widened a bit at that before putting a hand on her shoulder. "That doesn't make ye a bad person. I mean I havwe killed many people and I havwe killed thousands of lusii leaving grubs alone and orphaned…" he sighs looking up smiling a little. "Look up."

"Huh?" she looks up.

There was a mass of white butterflies flying just above them as they migrated. Vriska smiled wide watching the swarm flutter down closer to them. The fluttering white wings of each butterfly almost gave an appearance of twinkling stars as the moon reflected upon their wings. Dualscar smiles at Vriska holding his hand up letting several of them land on him. He smirks bringing his hand down looking at five of them, who landed upon him, twitch their wings as they took a break from flying.

"Hold yer hand up, they wvill land on ye," he chuckles as he holds up his pointer that had a happily resting butterfly.

Vriska holds her hand up giggling as she feels them all gather on her hand. She brought her hand down smiling as they covered her left arm, one dispersing and landing on her nose. She giggles loudly as its soft fragile feet and fluttering wings tickle her face.

"This is cool. Why are they all out here?" she asked looking over at him.

He watches as they fly off him, smirking some. "Wvell they are all migratin'. They prefer to travwel at night to avwoid the gulls. I knewv ye wvould love this… I alwvays did."

"Maybe you are a softy after all. The great Orphaner loves little butterflies," she playfully teased.

"Wvhat's wvrong wvith likin' butterflies? Sure I spend my time killin' lusii and creatures but I don't hate em'. I actually enjoy wvatchin' the beasts. I just am doin' a job," he sighs. He looks over at her as a butterfly lands on her crescent horn, he smiles a little. "Ye just gotta enjoy the little things."

She looks at one of the butterflies on her fingers before smiling up at him. "Yeah this… is nice… Captain?"

"Aye, Vwriska?" he asked.

"Why did you bring me out here?" she replied looking over at him.

"Because I thought ye wvould like it," he answered raising a brow.

"Well I do like it, but why are you taking your time to show me things that I would like?"

"I wvant ye to be happy here," he said softly.

"But why? I mean I get you want me to be comfortable here but I feel like you deliberately do things to make me smile, and whenever I am around you seem… happier."

"Is…. Is that a bad thing?" he asked his fins drooping some.

"No, but how come I get like… special treatment and …attention?"

"Because… I just wvant ye happy, because it makes me happy….."

"Why?" she asked furrowing her brows.

"Because… I don't knowv…" he sighs his fins drooping completely looking away.

"Captain…" she says with a small yawn.

"Ye can go back to bed if ye are tired. After all I did wvake ye up in the middle of the night," he chuckles a bit sadly scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah… I am going to go back to bed… are you going to come?" she asked frowning, seeing his feelings slightly hurt.

"I need to stay out here and… think about some things… Please… Just go to bed," he mutters leaning over the railing looking out at the ocean.

"Um… Good night, Captain," she whispers frowning.

Vriska sighed turning away from Dualscar, the butterflies flying off her as she walked back to the captain's quarters. She felt like a little wriggler who just got sentenced away to time out for doing something bad. She sulked her way onto her mat, lying down, and sighing frustration with her actions. She didn't mean to upset Dualscar; she was just trying to see if he would actually say he liked her quadrant wise. She frowned closing her eyes tightly, forcing herself into a comatose sleep hoping Dualscar would be happier tomorrow.

Mindfang gripped Vriska by the hair and tugged her around roughly, grinning wide as her other hand held her cobalt blade. Vriska could feel her hands bound behind her back by an itchy bristle covered rope, as she was painfully forced down onto her knees. Her cheek was swollen and darkened cerulean, along with a large black eye. Blood streamed down from her nose and lip, as well from a thick gash on her arm. She was dressed in a flimsy filthy black tank top and ragged blue jeans. Vriska struggled gritting her teeth in pain as Mindfang slid the blade across her cheek slicing the flesh open. She started screaming thrashing her body about more, Mindfang snarling and shaking her about by the hair.

"Vriska!" she screamed in a twisted angered voice.

"Please stop! No!" Vriska cried shaking her head.

Mindfang shook her more yelling, "Calm down! Vriska!"

The younger girl shut her eyes tightly and started sobbing, "Please! I don't want to die!"

"Vriska! Open yer eyes," she screamed.

"No! Please! Stop!" the scared girl whimpered as she began to tremble in fear.

"Vwriska! Please…. Open yer eyes."

Now that voice was different than that of Mindfang's. She knew that voice. That voice belonged to someone who showed her a kind heart, and with nervous fear she slowly opened her eyes. There was darkness, before there was a face.

"Vwriska," Dualscar whispered shaking her gently by the shoulders.

She looked at him nervously before gazing about the room seeing that she was still in Dualscar's quarters. Vriska's trembling soon ceased as she looked upon the face that had been treating her with kindness. She bit her lip lunging at Dualscar and hugging him tightly, her claws digging into his shoulder blades. She began sniffling, starting to tear up causing her to bury her face in his shoulder.

"Shhh it's okay… It wvas just a nightmare. I got ye. It is okay Vwriska. I got ye, lass. Don't cry, evwerythin' is okay. Shhh it wvas just a dream," he said softly stroking her hair.

"She… she had me… It was so real… I could feel the pain," she whimpers gripping the back of his shirt tightly.

"It's okay… I wvon't let her take ye… It is okay," he whispers to her.

She moves some so she could look at his face. "She… she… she was going to cut my head off…." she whimpered sadly.

He frowns grabbing her gently by the sides of her face, "Oh Lass… Swveetie… I wvould nevwer let her do that to ye. I promise… I am gonna protect ye."

Vriska nods her eyes shifting to the floor; she could still feel the pain in her cheek from when Mindfang's cobalt sword slid across it in her dream. The poor girl had never known such fear, had never shown such emotion to anyone. Emotions were bad! Fear was bad! Regret was bad! Self expression was bad! Friends were bad! Or… at least that was what she was raised to know, but after everything she had been through, that confident prideful girl just wanted a shoulder to cry on, so she can sob out everything she had been repressing for sweeps. Everything hurt, everything was painful as the Pandora's box filled with all her sorrows, regrets, pain, hate, worries, paranoia, fear, depression, anger, and denial opened up and showed her everything she had been feeling. She hugged Dualscar tightly again and began sobbing on the worried sea dweller.

"Vwris?…" he muttered sadly.

She pulls away placing her hands over her face and began hyperventilating as an anxiety attack took hold of her. Her fingers found her hair at the top of her head and gripped it tightly pulling on it. Her form shook and trembled, her teeth gritting as every exhale became a light growl. She felt like she was experiencing every horror in her life all over again, beginning to hate the person she was. She hurt people! Hurt people she thought of as friends! She broke hearts, broke spines! She was a terrible person! She hated herself! She loathed herself! She wanted to die! She was just as bad as Mindfang, she was evil, and it took rape and abuse to make her open her eyes to what a horrible monster she was.

"Kill me…" she muttered into her hands, the words muffled.

He moves her hands so he can look into her eyes. "Wvhat wvas that?"

"Kill me Dualscar…" she whispered.

"Wvhat?! Vwriska… Evwerythin' is okay… things are good… I am not gonna kill ye…" he whispered hugging her tightly.

"Please… I… I am a monster!" she cried pulling away from him.

"NO!" he growls pulling her into his arms resting his chin between her horns. "Ye are not a monster… Ye are just sad… and hurt."

"I am too! I hurt people!" she cried clawing at her arms.

"Yeah…. So havwe I!" he whispers gripping her wrists so she couldn't hurt herself. "Please don't hurt yerself."

"I broke my friend's spine, blinded another… I… I killed one… she came back… but I still killed her in cold blood," she whimpers.

"Yeah… and I can understand wvhat ye are feelin', but dyin' wvon't make anythin' better… Ye got to forgivwe yerself… before others do…" he whispered pulling away some to look in her eyes.

She sighs looking down biting on her lip. "I am evil…"

"No yer not. Swveetie… Look at me," he says as he grabs her chin making her look at him. "Ye can't hate yerself! Ye can't givwe up… if ye do… ye are only lettin' Fang wvin. Those men wvho hurt ye wvin. Yer lusus wvin. Anyone wvho has made ye feel like shit wvin. Ye don't wvant that do ye?" he said in a stern serious tone.

"I… um… No…" she sighs.

"Evwerythin' wvill get better. Ye are a strong, bravwe, smart… beautiful girl. Ye got to embrace the things that make ye special instead of festerin' on the mistake ye havwe made. Wve all fuck up! I am the king of fuck ups! Believwe me… Smile princess, ye're perfect," he says loudly in a strong tone.

Vriska looks into his eyes and nods managing a soft weak smile for him. Dualscar lets go of her completely and smiles back at her before standing up. He walked over sitting on the edge of the bed looking down at her, analyzing her face to see if she truly was okay. The young girl lays down on her mat curling up a bit, worried if that if she closed her eyes and fell asleep she would only see Mindfang's face again. Dualscar signed seeing this and stood up again moving towards her cautiously. He leaned in pulling her into his arms and lifting her up bridal style walking back to his bed.

"What… what are you doing?" Vriska muttered looking up at him.

"I think it wvould be better if ye slept in me bed wvith me. Just so I am right there if ye havwe a panic attack again. Don't wvorry… I wvon't try anythin' stupid… I just wvant ye to feel safe and I think havwin' me right there wvould help," he said softly as he laid down on his bed with her in his arms still.

Vriska didn't argue with this, actually agreeing with his logic regarding this. She scooted a little away from him once they were lying on the bed so they weren't so awkwardly close. She did feel a great amount of tension vanish though has she closed her eyes slowly. This bed was really comfy and she reached out pulling a lusus fur blanket over her. Dualscar smiles seeing her relaxed and lies on his side with his back turned to her so he could get some sleep for himself.

It was nearly noon of the next day when the crew began to wonder why their Captain was still sleeping, this wasn't like him, he was always the first one up. Deciding to go wake up Dualscar, the first mate made his way down into the Captain's quarters. He smirked wide chuckling to himself at what he saw when he opened the door. Dualscar, who hasn't slept next to a woman in a long time, was on his side and had Vriska curled up next to him holding her close to his chest. One of his hands was tangled through her hair on the back of her head and the other was on her lower back tightly compressing her to him. Vriska, who was also out cold, didn't seem to mind this at all, and actually had one leg wrapped up around his. The first mate grinned walking around the bed and up to Dualscar, poking him in the side of his nose.

Dualscar groans opening his eyes barely, "Wvhat?!"

"So uh… what's going on here?" the first mate said still with a wide grin, trying to hold himself from laughing.

Dualscar gave a confused look before his eyes opened entirely, a dark violet blush crossing his face. He immediately let go of Vriska, who rolled over on her side, to deep in a sleep to really care. The Captain sat up on his bed, and looked at Vriska then the first mate in an aloof manner as if he wasn't just doing that.

"It's… it's not wvhat it looks like," he says coughing to change his tone from embarrassed to stern.

"It isn't? I mean I don't blame you. Gives you a reason to sleep in," the first mate chuckles.

"She had a nightmare about Mindfang followved by a panic attack… I needed to coax her," he sighs through his gills running a hand through his wild bed crazy hair.

"Oh? Is that so?" the first mate asked crossing his arms.

Dualscar gets off the bed and looks face to face at the first mate. "That girl is really damaged by wvhat Fang did… She wvanted me to kill her last night… I wvanted her to feel… protected," he whispers.

"Oh… I see…" the first mate said frowning.

"Wve just need to showv her… she is more than just wvhat Fang made her feel like…" Dualscar mutters.

"Yeah… You … You really do care about her, don't you, Captain?" the first mate asked in a soft tone.

Dualscar furrows his brows and scowls some, "Wvhat are ye gettin' at?"

"I can just see it… You are attached to her… and I am not meaning you are red for her or anything like that… you are just fond of her…" he says cautious with the words he used.

Dualscar sighs looking over at Vriska who was still passed out on the bed. Her long hair was spread across the pillows like a soft delicate spider web. Her hands were folded over each other resting by the side of her head, as she slept. A soft at peace expression remained on her face, her eyelids gently closed, and her plump blue lips pursed almost forming a small smile. Her small form rose and fell against the bed in a heap with each small breath. The Captain sighed turning to look at the concerned look of his first mate.

"She is… special… but misunderstood. I need to showv her… her potential," Dualscar said softly.

"You aren't going to let her hurt you right?" the other asked.

"It wvill be me owvn fault if I get hurt…" the sea dweller replied. "Go back on the deck, I wvill be up in a minute… I got to get me clothes on."

"What about her?" the first mate asked looking over at Vriska.

"She wvill rise wvhen the time comes…" he replies grabbing his cape.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Next

It had been about a month since Vriska had joined the crew of the Orphaner Dualscar. Things have improved greatly in contrast from the bumpy start she had in the beginning. The crew accepted her as one of their own and for once in her life she felt like she truly did belong somewhere. Dualscar was happy to see Vriska grow and blossom into the person she was meant to be, that was all he ever wanted for her.

After a long while at sea the crew finally made port at a large clock town. It was a nice cool evening and the town was surprisingly bustling with life and beautiful lights cascaded through the streets. All of the men rushed off the boat making their way to the bar eager to see women and drink booze. Dualscar just sat on the railing of the bow of his ship watching as all of them left in a joyful array of laughter and cheering as the crew flooded into a bar.

Vriska walked up behind Dualscar and tapped his shoulder smiling at him. "Hello Captain," she said in a soft tone.

"Oi Vwriska. Are ye not goin' to join the crewv ashore?" he asked looking down at her.

"Oh I will but I was going to wait for you. You are coming to the bar right?" she asked with a smile.

He grins, "Of course, Lass. Let's go get drunk…. I knowv ye wvill probably be departed by morning so the crewv and I wvant to at least make yer last night wvith us fun. The men and I havwe really enjoyed ye as apart of the crewv… it's a shame ye got to leavwe us…"

She sighs looking out at the ocean away from the land. "I know."

"Yeah… I am speakin' for evweryone wvhen I say wve are gonna miss ye… ye really made yerself a part of our ship… Ye need to stay in contact wvith me… Ye can go on a vwoyage wvith us again, ye wvill alwvays be apart of the crewv…" he replied with a sad smile.

"Yeah," she mutters slumping against the railing of the ship with a huff.

He looks over at her his ear fins perking up slightly as a sly grin crossed his face. "Ye don't wvant to leavwe us do ye?"

She looks at him sadly and shakes her head, "No…. this is wvhat I havwe alwvays wvanted."

"Then don't go… I am not the one kickin' ye off the ship, ye are… I honestly…" He steps closer to her, grabbing her chin looking into her eyes. "Wvould prefer if ye stayed…"

"But… there is someone waiting for me back home…" she sighs looking into his eyes sadly.

"If they wvant ye to be happy, they wvouldn't care if ye stay…" he replied smirking some.

"Yeah… but Dualscar… it's been over a sweep since I have seen him…" she says with a frown.

"Him?…" he asks his fins twitching a little angrily.

"Yeah… my kismesis …" she replies sadly.

"Oh yeah…. Yer kismesis… he yer only quadrant?" he asked raising a brow.

"Yeah."

"Then wvhy should he be so upset yer gone… Please at least do one more vwoyage wvith us… I knowv ye don't wvant to go yet so stay…" Dualscar stated bluntly.

"But I promised him I would come back…"

"And ye wvill. I promised ye I wvould get ye home and I wvill, but let yerself be happy and be wvhere ye belong… Come on Vwriska, I knowv ye wvant to," he chuckles.

She sighs before smiling a little. "You're right."

"Great! Wve wvill havwe a bigger celebration nowv!" he laughs before settling down into a soft smile, leaning in some as if he was going to kiss her.

"Hey Captain! Aren't ya gonna drink with us!?" yelled a crew member from the shore.

Dualscar turns and sighs, "Yeah be there in a minute…" He turns back to Vriska and smiles. "Let's go. They are hopeless wvithout me."

"Aye Aye Captain," she chuckles.

Dualscar puts an arm around her shoulder and leads her down the ramp and on to shore. Vriska wobbled a bit as she stepped on solid land; it had been more than a sweep since her feet haven't felt the rocking motion of waves below. Dualscar chuckles at her as she walked like a new born calf as she cautiously took steps as she was afraid to fall on the ground.

"Lost ye land legs, Vwriska," the old Captain laughed.

"Don't make fun of me," she snarled before giggling.

After properly getting her footing she walked with him to an old pirate bar. As they entered the roar of laughter rand cheers as the men got to drinking spending their gold and treasure they had collected from their travels. The crew was merrily singing and some were partaking in a game of darts, but their target wasn't a board yet the back of one of the lesser members. The crowd of men looked at Dualscar growing silent as if they were expecting some sort of news. The sea dweller Captain grinned at the group walking over to a few bar stools, letting Vriska sit on one with Dualscar sitting next to her.

"She is staying!" he roared laughing.

The men cheered clanging their glasses of beer together in celebration of the news of their female acquaintance. Vriska looked over at Dualscar with a small smirk and raised eyebrow. Dualscar yelled at the bartender ordering the two of them thick mugs of sudsy booze, he grins back at her.

"You had this planned… " she chuckled at him.

"Wvell the crewv wvas sad to hear ye wvere leavwin' so they begged me to persuade ye into stayin'. Plus wvho is gonna shavwe my face wvhen it gets scruffy?" Dualscar laughs.

She smiles giggling a little, "Is that all I am good for? Shaving your facial hair?"

"Hell no! Ye are one of me best crewv members I got! Ye are an excellent pirate and ye are swvift wvith yer saber… Ye are a vwaluable crewv member," he replied before taking a giant swig from his drink.

"You really think so?" She asked smiling wide.

"Yeah. Of course I do…" he replies softly.

Vriska smiles wide before grabbing her glass and downing half of it in one go. Dualscar chuckles at her taking another sip from his glass before looking out at the crowd who was hooting, hollering, and flirting with women. Vriska noticed two of the men making some woman who had been in the bar a little uncomfortable.

"Dualscar," she said sternly.

"Wvhat is it, Lass?" he asked looking over at her.

"Your men won't hurt anyone right?" she asked in a dark tone.

"No… they knowv not too…" he answered.

"What about women? They won't take them by force?" she asked with great concern as she watched the two harass the poor girl.

Dualscar looks over seeing this happen, and yells, "Oi! Leavwe her alone ye scallywvags! It is obvwious she don't wvant ye!"

The two men walk over to Dualscar sighing like to wrigglers in trouble. "Sorry Captain, we just be a bit frisky."

Vriska rolls her eyes at that and downs her drink. "It still isn't right. There are whores for that shit."

"Yeah yeah…" one of the men mutter. The other chuckles some as he watches Vriska down her drink. "Woah lass, take it easy. Ye don't want to get crazy drunk."

Dualscar raises both his eyebrows and scoots away some deciding to just drink his beer. He knew Vriska was going to react harshly to that and he didn't want to get stuck in the crossfire. Vriska narrowed her eyes at the two men her hand gripping the mug so tightly it cracked before breaking, booze and glass splattered all over the bar counter. Dualscar put a hand on her shoulder trying to calm her down a little, her fist unclenched some.

"I can out drink both of you lily livered bastards so don't even talk about how much I can and can not drink," she scoffed.

One of them chuckled, "Ye sure? We've been drinking longer than ye have existed."

"Yes, damn sure I can!" she growled.

Dualscar decides to come between them. "Look lads and Lassy…. Instead of bickerin' like ninnies about wvho can drink more…. Let's havwe an actual competition."

Vriska smirks laughing, "I like the sound of that!"

Three large barrel kegs were brought out and set down on a table in the middle of the bar. Everyone, even trolls who weren't apart of the crew gathered around and watch as the contest unfolded. Once Dualscar gave word the three began drink, filling up large glasses with beer from the barrel. Vriska kept on downing each glass she filled in one gulp, the drink in the barrel soon diminishing. Soon enough, after a few barrels the two men were stumbling about drunk off their ass and Vriska was just sitting in her seat giggling. Dualscar walks up to her holding her hand up while declaring her the winner of the drink fest. The crowd cheered surprised that she could really hold her own.

"Yay! I did it…" she giggles leaning against Dualscar a bit tipsy.

"Vwriska, ye drunk?" he laughed.

"No… trust me… You would know if I was drunk," she giggles standing up.

Vriska stretches and steps outside on the dock to get some fresh air away from the drunken stupor in the stuffy bar. She sits on the dock with her red boots dangling over the edge swinging back and forth. She looks down at the reflection of her and the stars in the water. She burps a little feeling the beer come back up, she shouldn't have drank to fast. Dualscar comes out and sits by her offering her a flask full of rum.

"Wvant some? It's better than anythin' they are servwin' in there," he chuckles.

Her face turns blue at sight of the rum and she hunches over puking in the water. Dualscar laughs holding her hair back and patting her back as she expels the alcohol. She coughs wiping her mouth clean with the corner of her armored dress. She sits up looking at him before just laying back on the dock staring up at the sky.

"Ye okay, Vwris?" he asked lying beside her.

"Yeah… a… okay…" she pants.

"Are ye drunk nowv? Or wVhere ye just deciding to chum for the fish? Nighttime is the best time for fishing," he asked laughing.

"No… I just drank too much too fast," she laughed huffing.

"So ye wvill be okay, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replies sitting up.

He stands up looking down at her with his large hand out for her to take. "Care to wvalk the beach wvith me?"

She smiles taking his hand. "Sure, I would like that."

Dualscar escorts Vriska down to the beach smiling as the breeze made his cape whip around. The salt air ran over his scarred face causing him to sigh some through his gills growing a bit somber as he looked out at the ocean. Vriska looked up at him her expression looking a bit sad as she noticed a change in him.

"You okay, Captain?" she asked.

"Ah it's just the fish in me wvants to swvim…" he laughs.

"Then go swim… I can just wait here. I don't mind…" she replies.

"Ye don't mind wvatchin' me stuff?" he asked.

"No. Go on, I'll be here," she chuckles.

He kicks off his boots and strips down to just his pin striped pants, not really bothered to get those wet. Vriska sits down in the sand kicking off her boots as well, deciding to wiggle her little toes down into the sand like worms. She notices the clothes fall beside her out of the corner of her eye so she looks up, blushing slightly as she sees him. She had never really realized that he was attractive, and so well built, and she had never expected him to have tattoos, even though she couldn't make out what some of their were do to the darkness of night. She would probably blow a gasket if she saw the mermaid Mindfang on his arm.

Dualscar walks out into the water, once waist deep he dives in, vanishing under the waves. Vriska watches some bubbles surface as she tracks his movements as he swims under the dark waters. Her toes squirm in the sand, she loved the feel of the grains in between her toes, and it had been so long. Regardless though of how much she was enjoying the feel of sand and solid land, she always did love the sea, and that was a love that wouldn't die out.

Vriska looked down at her wrist as she traced one of her fingers around the sapphires on her bracelet. She looks up seeing Dualscar surface in the distance running his fingers through his hair, she smiled a little. There was the sound of sand being kicked up as someone walked up to her so she turned to look. The chef smirked walking up to her and sat beside her, raising an eyebrow at the sight of Dualscar's clothes on the ground.

"I knew it," the chef giggles.

"Knew what?" she asked confused.

"Ye are a siren! Ye seduced the captain and ate him," he chuckles.

"I am not a siren! And I have not seduced him!" she scoffs crossing her arms. "He went for a swim."

The chef chuckles, "I know, I know. Still I catch ye eyeing him over now and then, Honey."

She blushes snarling, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh honey, ye don't fool me. Ye have a thing for the Captain… I can see it. I ain't blind, but hell I got a thing for the captain too. That man is fine," he laughs looking out at the ocean.

"Look I don't have a _thing_ for Dualscar… He is just my captain," she mutters.

"Oh yeah. Why do ye call him Dualscar if he is just yer captain? Ye would call him Captain, instead of being so casual," he replies.

She rolls her eyes scoffing, "That doesn't make any sense. He is my friend, so I call him Dualscar, but I also call him Captain. I don't like him more than a friend."

"Yer in denial, Hun," he laughed.

"No I am not!" she growls.

"Then why are ye being so defensive?" he chuckles. "Don't need to be embarrassed."

"Whatever! Shut up!" she hissed.

"Woah, Hun. Relax… He likes ye too. I can see that also," he titters.

"What can't you see?" She grumbled.

"Me toes..." He laughed out loud.

She giggles, "Well that is one thing..."

"But back on topic. The captain likes ye."

"First mate said that too. Said Captain is fond of me… so he isn't the only one who thinks so?" she asked.

"Honey, everyone sees it. The Captain is sweet on ya. It isn't just because ye have had a hard time or yer a woman. He likes ye… Ye have seemed to soften his heart," he replied.

She sighs, "I don't know how I feel regarding him. I mean, he has been so nice to me and I like him as a friend, but I don't know if I want to be anything more with him because of his past with Mindfang… I don't know… Sometimes I feel like a Mindfang replacement for him…"

"Vriska…. don't be a fuckin' moron… Ye are so much better than that sea cow… Ye are nice to us… she would push us around… ye genuinely care about work… she would lay around… yer body is a bomb shell… hers is heading south, literally…" he laughs.

"Oh… my god…" Vriska busts out laughing hard at that.

"Well I am gonna leave ye be with that image in yer head. Have fun with the Captain… maybe ye two can skinny dip," he giggles running off.

Vriska shakes her head rolling her eyes as she watches the chef run off back to the bar. She lies back against the sand yawning loudly as she gazed up at the constellations. She traced her finger up round the one that was Scorpio and then Aquarius, she smiles softly before closing her eyes. After a bit Dualscar found her asleep on the beach and smiled softly to himself picking her up bridal style after putting his clothes on. He carried her to the ship and into the Captain's quarters placing her down in his bed. He smiles softly at her peaceful state, brushing some hair away from her face. He then walks back to the plank to head back to the bar to see the others.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Knowving

With the rise of the sun Vriska wakes up and got out of Dualscar's bed, her body felt a bit sore from sleeping in armor. As she sat up on the bed she noticed a pair of clothes neatly folded up on the corner for her. She smiled grabbing the clothes and changed out of that uncomfortable battle dress, into the white tunic and black pants Dualscar left out. She headed out onto the deck seeing Dualscar leaning against the mast smoking on his pipe, who smiled upon seeing her. He blows out some smoke giving the pipe to her, who eagerly took a long drag from it. She exhaled the smoke handing the pipe back to her Captain.

"Oi Vwriska, howv did ye sleep?" he asked.

"Good enough for sleepin' in armor. You?" she yawned.

"I didn't sleep. None of the really men did. They like to spend all night drinkin' and fuckin'. Sure, they wvould havwe a nap or pass out, but they wvould be back up in about thirty minutes," he laughs.

"Oh," she chuckles. "I guess I got my beauty rest I need to worry about."

He smirks, "I don't think that is an issue ye havwe to wvorry about, Lass … Nowv on another note…" He pulls out a big wad of boon bucks from his jacket pocket. "Ye can take this and go out and buy ye some newv clothes and stuff. Essentials and such, ye knowv?"

"You don't have to do that, Captain…" she replies surprised, even though about a month ago he said he would buy her new clothes.

"Wvell I wvas gonna get ye some clothes, but I figured that's something ye should do…" he laughed scratching the back of his head.

He thinks back to a few hours earlier, Dualscar and his first mate were wandering through the local market in search of some supplies. Dualscar kept turning into every clothing section he found inspecting any woman's clothes he saw. The first mate just watched his Captain act in this peculiar manner with just a small smirk across his face.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I wvanted to get Vwris some clothes. She just has Mindfang's old outfit and she doesn't evwen havwe any proper sleepin' attire. I thought she wvould enjoy somethin' newv," the sea dweller replied looking over at his first mate with a small smile.

"Captain, I know you mean well and love her…" Dualscar glared at him at that. "I mean… _'care about her' _but buying her clothes can come off as a bit…. Creepy…" he replied.

"Buyin' her newv clothes is creepy?" Dualscar asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Vriska … is a woman…" the first mate stated.

"So?" he asked still confused.

"Women have different clothing needs then men…"

"So? I wvas just gonna buy her some dresses and shirts and pants and stuff…" Dualscar scoffed.

"Dualscar! Women …. Have breasts….. Vriska has breasts… Do you plan on buying her bras? And…. Panties…." he whispered as if ladies' undergarments were taboo.

Dualscar's eyes widened and he flushed some embarrassed. "Ye make a good point…. She should do this…"

"You think?" the first mate scoffed.

"Shut up… " he growled.

Snapping out of his embarrassing flashback Dualscar looks upon Vriska with a small blush. He puts the boons in her hand and looks down at the docks seeing some of his men wandering around aimlessly. He looks back at her and smiles some; she just raises an eyebrow in confusion. He tucks his pipe in his jacket and walks up to her.

"Come on I wvill wvalk ye to the market…" he stated putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you going too?" she asked putting the wad off boon bucks into his pocket.

"No I got my owvn errands to run, but I wvill havwe some one go wvith ye so ye don't get attacked… some people might think yer Fang and wvould wvant to hurt ye…" he replied.

"Oh okay.." she sighed.

The two of them get down to the market seeing a few of his men already there. Dualscar looks over them deciding who would be the one to watch over Vriska and wouldn't make her feel awkward. Seeing the doctor amongst the crowd he decided he would be the one who would watch over her. The doctor and Vriska had become good enough friends so it wouldn't be such a big deal.

"Oi, Doc?" He called out.

The doctor walked over, and yawned from lack of sleep. "Yes?"

"Could ye be kind and wvatch ovwer Vwriska as she does some shoppin'?" Dualscar asked.

"Sure thing," the doctor yawned.

When the two left the remainder of the men there looked at Dualscar. "Oi' Captain why does she get to do her own personal shopping with yer money?" one of them asked.

"She needs to buy stuff…" he muttered.

"What kinda stuff?" they interrogated.

"Wvoman stuff and garments…." he coughed.

"Maybe we need some woman stuff and garments… give us some money Captain," they all laughed and chirped.

"None of ye need or are wvoman stuff and garments!" he shouted.

"_I do_~," the chef chuckled walking up.

"No!" Dualscar snarled.

Vriska and the doctor walked through the market together looking at the items on sale. She stopped at a clothing booth picking out some pants and t-shirts that were about her size. The doctor raised an eye at her choice of clothing, surprised she didn't pick something more feminine in nature.

"You aren't going to pick out something more lady like? I figured being on a ship full of men you would want something girly," the doctor states.

"Eh… I prefer simpler clothes. Sure, normal dresses and stuff are nice and shit, but I don't want to work in that. I prefer a simple t-shirt or tank top and some jeans," she replies with a shrug.

"Well now that we just stocked up there will be some leisure time, don't you want like a sun dress or something? I think you would look nice in one," he chuckles.

"Bluh…" she muttered paying for some clothes.

"Come on, a cute girl like you should wear something to show off how attractive you are," he laughs holding up an olive green sundress with butterflies on it.

"Olive isn't my color, I prefer cerulean… and I am not the biggest fan of butterflies… I mean I like them, but I wouldn't wear anything with them on it," she chuckles.

He pulls out a blue dress and snickers, "This one then."

"Doc, no. Quit pushing your dresses on me," she laughed.

"Don't you want to find a guy? Looking attractive in one of these would help, not that I am saying you are not attractive already. A dress would enhance your beauty, you know?" he replied.

"I am not really on a man hunt… I guess when the right one comes I will know," she states shrugging as she picks out some bras.

"How do you know when a man is the right one?" he asked stepping up to her.

"I don't know," she muttered she turns to look at him.

The doctor bites his lip before leaning in and kissing her gently on the lips. Vriska's face flushed bright cerulean, frozen in utter shock about what was happening. Dualscar was walking through the market, looking for the doctor deciding to give him some boons to buy medical supplies with when he saw them. His fins drooped entirely in sadness and he grits his shark teeth in pure anger, but he didn't know why. He felt betrayed, like when he once walked in on Mindfang with the Summoner back in his earlier days as the Orphaner and with his black romance with the sea hag. He then sighed with a frown turning around and stomping away out of the market, past his men, onto his ship and into his room where he locked his door and drank a bottle of rum. Vriska pulled away shaking her head with a sad shocked look on her face.

"Doc, you are a good guy and friend, but I don't feel that way about you," she muttered looking down.

"Vriska… I am sorry…" he mutters. "… I miss my matesprit…" he sighs.

"I'm sorry, but I am no good for you… You will find a girl who is just as good as your old matesprit," she sighs.

"Don't tell anyone that happened…" he muttered.

"I don't plan on it,' she replies turning her back to him.

After Vriska had finished up her shopping she boarded the ship, the doctor followed behind her from a distance. She departed from him going to the captain's quarters and the doctor went to his office in the infirmary. With one hand, the other filled with bags, she turned the knob to the door of the room, only to find it locked. She frowned knocking on the door gently, only to hear grumbling and shuffling from inside the room.

"Dualscar? Can I come in?" she asked softly.

The door slammed open and he loomed over her holding a large bottle of rum. His expression was irritated with a faint violet drunken blush plastered across it. He snarled a lip looking down at her, followed by a low guttural hostile growl. He didn't say a word only stepping out of the way to let her in, even though he didn't want to. She frowned feeling unsafe near him and cautiously went to her side of the room putting her stuff down beside her mat. He glared at her closing the door shut and locking it behind her before taking a big swig from his rum. She looked over at him, who was now sitting on the edge of his bed staring at her the whole time.

"Thanks for the boons for the clothes, Captain," she muttered trying to obtain some normalcy in the room.

"Wvhatevwer, mini Mindfang," he scoffed.

"Dualscar…. Don't call me that!" she growled feeling hurt and offended by him.

"Fuck. Ye. Cunt!" he snarled.

"You are fuckin' drunk!" she yelled.

He stood up with a vicious snarl walking up to her and pushing her up against the wall. He pinned her there, with just his forearm forcibly pressed up across her chest. She whimpered in fear struggling to free herself from his brute high blood strength. He leaned in close baring his fangs growling harshly in her face, showing no sign of the man she once knew, but a beast. She put a hand over his face in attempts to push him away from her, this only agitates him more. The beast slams her against the wall trying to disorient her, and to keep her from struggling. Her pulse quickens and her breath hitches as she lets out loud screams for help hoping one of the crew men would save her.

"Shut up, ye fuckin' bitch!" the beast roared slamming her against the wall again and again.

"Help!" she screamed.

There was a stampede of footsteps as a group of men rushed to the door banging on it. Vriska was their fellow crew member, and their friend they would go out of their way to protect her. In a group effort they bust down the door and swarmed in throwing Dualscar off her. She fell to the ground as she was released and looked around in horror and fear as the men wrestled the beast. She slowly stood, seeing the beast's glare fixated on her in utter hatred and anger.

"It's fuckin' Mindfang! Kill that cunt! That bitch must die!" he roared.

Vriska teared up looking at the man she once was fond of, the man she once admired. The first mate, who was one of the men helping control Dualscar, ran up to her grabbing her face gently. He looked into her eyes seeing her fear and depression, his own eyes in a panic.

"Vriska… What happened? Are you hurt?" he asked.

She shook her head starting to cry and she pulled away from him, backing away from everyone. She looked around in panic, an anxiety attack kicking in as she felt old wounds open up again. She hyperventilates some her hands shaking slightly.

"Vriska…" the first mate whispered approaching her.

"Get me off this fucking ship!" she screamed.

Vriska ran out of the room away from the commotion and down the boarding plank to the docks. The first mate chased after her, hot on her heels as he managed to get closer and closer to her. He grabbed one of her arms, bringing her to a struggled halt as he pulled her protectively close to him in attempts to calm her. She looked at him sobbing, continuing to struggle for freedom.

"I want to go home!" she screamed.

"Vriska. Please stop," he whispered.

"I am not going back on that fucking ship! To that fucking man! That fucking liar! I will NOT sail the fucking seas with him! With you! With any one!" she yelled slapping him across the face.

"Vriska listen…He didn't mean it!" he yelled trying to get her attention.

"That MAN! That MONSTER! Wanted to kill me!" she screamed. "I trusted him! I thought he was my friend!"

"Vriska! That wasn't Dualscar!" he yelled before frowning.

"What the fuck do you mean that wasn't Dualscar?" she asked, calming down some.

"Well… he was drunk, so he was belligerent…" he replied.

"Lies! I have seen Dualscar drunk! He is playful and fun! I have never seen him have that type of aggression!" she hissed.

The first mate sighs, "Dualscar and I have been through a lot… I am one of his closest friends… and he would never deliberately hurt anyone… I know that… especially people he cares about, without a good reason… except when he has an …. Episode."

"Episode?" she asked with furrowed brows.

"Dualscar… has PTSD… and when triggered… he loses it… I guess in a drunken state he thought you were Mindfang… and it triggered him…." he answers with a huff. "I know Dualscar… I know how he feels about you… he really does care about you… He just… had a bad moment."

She frowns with a sigh, "What if next time he actually kills me? I mean we share the same room… What if he attacks me in my sleep?"

"Then we will move your stuff to the study… Have a big room all to yourself… Look it is safer if you stay with us for now. You are far from home and if you run away now you might get hurt. I know the crew and I… and Dualscar will take care of you till we get closer to your home… All the men care about your safety for the most part. We wouldn't want you hurt," he sighs.

She sighs, "Keep Dualscar away from me for the rest of the day… I might _accidentally _kick him in the bulge…"

"Understood," he laughs escorting her back on board.

Vriska's stuff gets moved into the study and she got to work making herself comfortable. The study was the equivalent of a library with book shelves lining the walls, and filled with old maps, scrolls and books. She set her mat up against the far back wall and laid down on it, deciding to just sleep, her body sore from being repeatedly slammed into a wall. As she closed her eyes there was a knock on the door, which caused her to get up with a huff. She was dressed in a white tank top and pajama shorts, she had bought from the market, finally happy to have her own sleeping wear. She slowly opened the door frowning at the sight Dualscar.

"What?" she snarled looking at him.

He sighs handing her, her makeup bag, "Ye forgot this."

"Thanks," she huffed taking it from him.

"I am sorry, Vwris" he muttered.

"I don't care if it was an episode or not… you hurt me…" she growled.

"I knowv… and I am sorry… I just lost it," he sighed.

"I don't know what I did so wrong to upset you… " she scoffs.

"Wvhat do ye mean ye don't knowv?' he asked.

"Me looking like Mindfang never upset you, or at least make you do that to me… I thought you were my friend…" she sighs.

"Vwriska… just… I am sorry okay! Please just don't hate me for this… Ye are me friend… I… I am just confused and upset about some shit I don't really understand… I nevwer meant to hurt ye. Physically or emotionally… Lass… Sorry," he groaned his fins flaring.

"Dualscar… I just need to sleep. You do too… Just… we will talk tomorrow when we get back on the seas… Okay?" she sighs looking into his eyes.

"Alright …. Good night Lass… I wvill see ye wvhen things get better…" he sighs scratching the back of his head. "I am gonna miss sharin' a room wvith ye… I actually didn't mind havwen ye as a room mate… ye made for good company…" he chuckles softly.

"Yeah… Night Captain…" she mutters closing the door.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Kiss of Death

Two weeks pass after the Orphaner's episode, and an odd tension still remained between Vriska and Dualscar. The crew could sense the bad vibes in the air between the two and were unsure why the negativity was still going on, even Vriska, who had gotten over the incident found herself confused over Dualscar's strange behavior towards her. She wasn't sure why he was still upset, she told him she forgave him, she would have assumed he would have cheered up by now. At least he still allowed her to have privileges to his shower due to comfort and safety reasons.

Tonight the mood was lightened up some as a full moon hung bright in the black sky which sent the spirits of the crew into a joy. Being relieved from duties for the evening the men sat out on the deck drinking, playing cards or dice, fishing, and even some were playing music on instruments. Lanterns cascade across the railings illuminating the deck with a delightful glow of flickering flames. Vriska, to get her mind off Dualscar, was playing poker with the chef and four other men, and kicking their asses at it too. The men weren't as ecstatic as Vriska was, mainly because they were betting money and since she was winning she was taking all their cash. She enjoyed this; it was just nice to do something normal for a change especially now because of the tension Dualscar had.

There was all of a sudden an ominous wind, but no one other than Vriska seemed to notice it. She looked around for a moment, seeing Dualscar hunched over the railing looking at the sea. She shrugged off the chill that ran down her spine and focused back on her card game with the guys. No one had noticed that there was a ship in the distance and it was headed for them. It was fast. It was evil.

It was too late before the crew was alerted by the ship sneaking up on them, and it was already beside them. Vriska's heart sank at the sight of the other ship blue and black with an eight pupiled jolly Roger flag. It was Mindfang's ship. The chef grabbed Vriska's hand and pulled her behind him in a protective manner to hide her from the sights of the ones who had hurt and tormented her. Mindfang stepped on board Dualscar's ship and smirked looking around at the men drawing their weapons, some, who have been scared by her before, even retreating below deck. Dualscar turned to face her and grinned wide walking up to her, seeing that familiar twisted face sparked an old flame inside him.

"Oi ye old wvicked wvhore. Wvhat brings ye aboard me ship?" he growled with a devious grin.

"Hello Orphy, I wanted to visit me 8lack h8," Mindfang laughs walking up to him.

"Ugh don't call me that ye putrid tart. Ye knowv it doesn't help get me in the mood at all," he growls wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing his body to hers.

"Are ye sure a8out that?~" she teased.

"Shut up wvould ye?" he snarled glaring down at her eyes with malice.

"Make me~" she scoffs.

He puts a hand on her neck and hisses, "Wvhy didn't I just kill ye back in the day?"

"8ecause ye know ye can't and ye know ye never will~" she sneers.

He grunts, "Ye bitch….. Ye're probably right…"

She grabs the collar of his cape and snickers, "So since ye are stuck with me for now. What shall we do? It has 8een a while…"

"Ye fuckin' talk too much" he snarls.

Vriska was peeking out from behind the chef watching the two do their black lover's banter. It hurt some, why hadn't he killed her yet? Vriska and he made a packed that when one of them saw her they would kill her. He should have strangled the life from her veins in her neck, and ended the wicked witch's life, leaving her soulless form with a permanent shocked look engrained into her face. Dualscar looked over seeing Vriska peeking out at them, and it he only thought back to her and the doctor. He smirks; the bad man in him told him there should be pay back, even though the good man in him was still confused at why he was so upset over that. He looked back at the wicked bitch who was staring up at him with a twisted blue lipped smirk, with her thin long spider fangs peeking out.

"Wvhat we usually do, me hate~" he snarled leaning in kissing her roughly and hate filled on the lips.

Vriska felt her heart drop into her stomach feeling all forms of grief and fury overcomes her. He really was a liar, he wasn't a good troll, and there were no good trolls. She stepped out from behind the chef and stepped forward looking at the two, mainly Dualscar with a hurt pained expression. He broke the kiss with Mindfang and the grin faded from his lips and his face distorted from cocky appearance to an utter regret as he looked over at the pained girl. Mindfang looked at him with a smirk not yet realizing her, whom she presumed was dead descendent was standing right before them. Noticing Dualscar's attention had shifted off of her she grew irritated and looked over her mouth gaping as she saw what was like an old photo of herself from her younger days.

"Ye… ye are fuckin' alive? Ye have 8een here… this whole time?!," the elder Serket snarled at the girl.

"Mindfang… back off," Dualscar sighed grabbing her shoulder.

She looks at Dualscar hissing, "Why the fuck is_she _here? She is wearing my old clothes…." A wide smirk crosses her face. "Did ye miss me that much, Orphy? Ye 8een usin' her for a little _entertainment. _Ye missed me so much ye needed to dress her up and use her as a gutter warmer… Apparently she makes for good entertainment, or that's what me crew told me," she scoffs with laughter.

Dualscar growls, "That isn't funny Mindfang…. I found her washed ashore and I took her in… I was deliverin' her home… treatin' her better than ye ever did."

She snarls walking up to Vriska and grabbing her by the horn. "This little 8ITCH… isn't worth shit…"

Vriska hisses in pain struggling as she was lifted up off her feet, dangling by her horn. The crew growls starting to charge towards her for hurting Vriska but they all stop, frozen. Mindfang smirks as she held all of them under her control directing them down below deck so only Dualscar, Vriska and her were left on the deck. Dualscar's heart sank as he watched the girl in pain once more from the hand of Mindfang.

"Please just let her go Mindfang," he asked cautiously stepping forward afraid brash actions would cause harm to fall upon Vriska.

"Why do ye care? She isn't worth anythin'. Watch!" she growls throwing Vriska down on the deck.

Vriska looks up at Mindfang quickly trying to get up on her feet, but a red steel boot stomps down on her spine causing a sick gasp to come out of the small girl's lips. Mindfang smirks flipping Vriska on her side and kicking her in the chest. Dualscar growled grabbing Mindfang by the shoulder and pulling her back as she delivered a kick in the little Serket's left shoulder dislocating it. Vriska screamed out in pain, only making Mindfang laugh maniacally at the girl.

"That isn't right Mindfang! She is yer blood!" he yelled.

"Pfttt…. Do I care?!" she laughed.

Dualscar growls before smirking at her. "I guess ye are right~"

He picks Mindfang up bridal style looking down at her with a wide deviant grin, causing her to giggle. He starts walking, carrying her over to the direction of his quarters, stepping over the wounded girl in the process. Vriska looked up at the two, tears welling up in her eyes, as she felt her heart break. Dualscar chuckled making a small turn over to the railing letting the soft breeze cascade over the two. Mindfang looked up at him a bit confused at why they detoured, but still she had a smirk on her face.

"Admiring the sea _Old Man_?" she chuckled.

"No… just takin' in this moment… it really is a shame..." he chuckles.

"Huh what is?" she asked furrowing her brow.

"This…" he laughs dropping her overboard.

She surfaces gasping, "WHAT THE FUCK!?"

He looks down at her with a flaccid expression. "I renounce out black tides, Fang. Ye and I are no longer a quadrant," he stated.

He strolled over to Vriska and hoisted her up to her feet looking into her eyes sadly. "Lass, I am sorry. Vwriska…. This is all me fault…"

"Dualscar… I…" she muttered before pausing.

Vriska looked over past his shoulder seeing Mindfang climbing aboard the ship. The woman was drenched and furious drawing her sword ready to kill Dualscar. Vriska grit her teeth running towards Mindfang grabbing her wrist to the hand that held the blade. The woman hissed, the two of them thrashing about as they struggled, fighting for control over the blade. Mindfang snarled punching Vriska in the face before tossing her over the edge of the railing. Dualscar ran over forcefully hitting her in the gut before jumping over to save Vriska. Due to her dislocated arm she was having trouble staying above water and she began sinking.

"This is a start of a war Dualscar! Ye are gonna pay, and that fuckin' little girl too," Mindfang snarled before going back to her own ship and sailing off.

Dualscar swam down in the water grabbing hold of Vriska and pulling her into his arms. He surfaced holding the girl close to his body with one arm the other starting to climb back aboard his ship. Once aboard he shook some of the water off him and quickly made his way below deck carrying Vriska in his arms. He went into his quarters setting Vriska down in the chair in front of his desk. He looked sadly into her eyes as he grabbed her wounded arm and jammed it back into socket with a disgusting crack causing her to scream loudly.

"Vwriska… I am so sorry," he whispered putting a hand on her cheek.

"Why didn't you kill her? She was right there… and you just kissed her… and you liked it… you wanted it…" she muttered looking away from him.

"I… I don't knowv wvhy but I wvanted ye upset… wvell I do knowv wvhy…. Kinda…" he sighed.

"Why? Why would you hurt me like that?" she snarled.

"Because I… GAH!… I wvas really angered and… upset wvhen I sawv ye…. Ye and … and the doctor…" he muttered.

"… What are you talking about?" she asked confused.

"I sawv ye twvo kissin' back at the market," he sighed.

"You did… Why would that upset you? That meant nothing," she replied.

"I don't knowv wvhy it did but it did… I…I wvanted to get back at ye in a fit of jealously…. And I hurt ye…I did somethin' that makes me disgusted wvith meself… Look… I am a man… I am stupid… I do stupid things and I don't knowv wvhy… Wvhy did ye twvo kiss?" he whined.

"Dualscar… the doctor kissed me because he missed his matesprit he lost… I didn't want it; it just happened…I have no feelings at all for that man… You… you on the other hand… broke your promise to me" she scoffed crossing her arms.

"Vwris… Swveetie… I knowv… and I… I didn't mean it… it was just an act of stupidity… I don't knowv wvhy I do the stupid wrigglerish things that I do… I just do…" he replied putting a hand on her shoulder.

She sighs, "Dualscar … Is this why you have been so upset? Because of a kiss? Is this why you have been ignoring me? Avoiding me? Treating me differently?"

"Yeah… I guess so… I am an idiot. Vwriska… I am sorry okay… Please if ye wvant anythin' I wvill givwe it to ye…" he replies.

She shivers from still being in soaking sea water wet clothes. "Can I use your shower so I can clean up and put some fresh clothes on?"

"Of course… I'll get ye some of yer clothes for ye," he replied.

Vriska gets in the shower washing up, noticing her chest was pretty bruised up from the kicks she got. Dualscar quickly changed out of his wet clothes hanging them up to dry, and being a sea dweller his skin and hair was already dried. He changed into his simple commoner clothes and walked down to the study grabbing Vriska some black pants and one of her blue tank tops. He cracked open the bathroom door just barely and set the clothes down on the bathroom counter. Eventually she finished up, changing in the clothes and walked out seeing Dualscar on his bed drinking some rot gut from a sliver flask with a skull and cross bones and the words _Crazy Bastard_ engraved into it.

She sits by him and sighs, "Are you going to share?"

He sits up chuckling, "Of course Vwriska."

She takes it from him and takes a swig from the flask. "Thanks … I needed a drink."

"After tonight wvho doesn't?" he laughed. "Howv's yer wvounds?"

"Better…. I just needed to wash up. Thanks for popping my arm back into place," she sighs taking another swig.

"I can get the doc to come and check that out for ye, if ye wvant," he replies taking the flask from her and sipping on it.

"No I am fine… you probably don't want him around me anyways," she teased stealing the flask back.

He laughed awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "Shhh, let's not talk about that…. I am a fuckin' idiot… Wve'vwe established that…"

"Yeah yeah," she laughs taking a big swig.

He pulls out his own bottle from under his bed sighing, "I am more wvorried about Mindfang anywvays…"

"Ugh Mindfang," she groans.

"Ye knowv that she is going to come back wvith full force nowv that I am no longer her kismesis," he muttered.

"Yeah… That was… amazing…" she laughed. "I can't believe you did that… Did you do that to make it up to me?"

"I'vwe been wvantin' to do that for a long time… I guess ye finally gavwe me the guts to actually do it… Nowv dowvn to zero quadrants… but it isn't all that bad… I don't havwe to deal wvith starin' romantically her sunken in skull hollowv eyes anymore…" He laughs

She chuckles, "Age has affected her greatly… The chef told me her body was heading south literally."

"Wvhat's there to head south!? I mean there wvasn't much to begin wvith.. I mean I am surprise howv full ye turned out to be evwen though ye are her descendent," he laughed.

She rolls her eyes giggling, "You are drunk."

"Am not. Besides drunk or not wvon't change my opinion on that," he mutters drinking from his drink.

She lays back on his bed and let's out a deep sigh, "I hope Mindfang was just saying some cheap threats. I don't want to deal with her you know? She is just a pain in the ass…"

"Oh… I knowv her… she wvilll be back… hopefully ye wvill be safely home before then… I… I am sorry I got ye hurt lass…." he sighs lying beside her.

"We've been over this… you were just being stupid… at least it is not as bad as some of the stuff she has put me through," she replies finishing off his flask.

"Aye… still… I feel like shit…" he murmurs.

She turns to face him and looks into his eyes. "It is okay… we all do things we regret…"

He smiles and chuckles, "Yeah… I suppose ye're right."

Vriska stands up setting the empty flask down on the edge of the bed. With a loud yawn she stretches out her limbs making all her sore joints pop and crack. She smiles down at her captain as he spread himself out across on his bed.

"Sorry I drank all yer rot gut," she giggles.

"Pft. It's just rot gut. I don't care. Night Vwris," he laughs.

"Night Dualscar," she says softly before exiting his room and going to her own to get some sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Season of the Wvitch

Three weeks pass on since the encounter with Mindfang, and, although things were good on the Orphaner's ship, it was nearing the time Vriska would be departing to return home to her see her own dorky Ampora fellow. Though on this morning Dualscar thought he would do one last lusii hunt before they would all head to shore. A thick white fog shrouded the ocean, making the water hard to see, and anything in the distance had disappeared under the white blanket. A chilled breeze blew through the air, and a strange utter silence hung in the area.

They analyzed the blurry water, which was only barely seen under the thick fog, for hours before finally catching a glimpse a fairly large creature's hide. It was serpent like as seen by the jagged white scales and spines that lined its body as it dove in and out of the fog like a dragon flying in the clouds. Dualscar took four men and got into the life boat, paddling silently and slowly stalking the beast as it swam. Vriska watched from the bow of the ship with some high powered binoculars to make sure nothing bad happened to the life boat and Dualscar.

The sea dweller stood on the edge of the life boat with Ahab's cross hairs in his hands. His finger went over the trigger twitching some as he aimed at the lusus' body. Just as he was about the shoot the serpent, it rose its mighty head out of the water, revealing a familiar blue explosive dice encrusted in the bloody socket of its eye. Dualscar's eyes widened as the die flashed a few times before obliterating the beasts head in a bloody explosion, capsizing the life boat from the sheer power of the blast. The captain, being closest to the explosion, was now floating disoriented in the bloody water.

Through blurred vision Dualscar noticed another boat approaching them, believing it was one of his own before noticing the ominous silhouette of the beldam standing in it. Two of her own men hoisted the dizzy sea dweller out of the water and up into her boat followed by binding his arms behind his back and putting a thick rope in his mouth to prevent him for calling out for reinforcements. He looked out at the water seeing Ahab's crosshairs floating away, and out of sight into the white. Mindfang cackled evilly as her boat was paddled towards her ship that was lurking in the distance over the mask of the fog the whole time.

Vriska's heart sank as she saw the explosion through the binoculars, she recognized that explosion, she used the same type of dice her self. She then gulped loudly in realization at the fact that Mindfang had returned again. She ran down to the crew who were already fishing out the other four men that were with Dualscar from the water. Vriska looked around in utter sadness as she heard the four men say that Dualscar had been kidnapped by the she-beast herself. The crew got in gear and began sailing off after the direction one of the men, who saw him get taken, said Mindfang was heading towards. After several hours of searching for Dualscar or Mindfang, the crew gave in and stopped in defeat.

Vriska angrily paced the deck growling, "Really?! We are just fucking giving up?! He is our Captain!"

"This is probably some stupid black shit, Ole' Fang is pulling," one of the crew members retorted.

"No… it's not…. He ended it with her… This vendetta," Vriska sighed shaking her head. "We need to go save him…"

"We can't go out after Mindfang; we can't handle a crew like hers without Dualscar's lead. Why should we go and get our asses slaughtered for a man who can easily handle himself? He should be fine!" several of the crew members chirped out.

Vriska looked over at the first mate, who was drying himself since he was one of the men with Dualscar. He sighed giving her a sympathetic look. "Vriska…. I can't. Dualscar told me if anything happens I need to watch over his ship. I am in charge and need to take care of the crew. I am sorry, but he should be fine…."

"No… he won't…. A small boat of use can go then and sneak on and get him…" she stated looking around at the men who shook their heads saying no.

"Fine then…" she yells grabbing her saber walking over to one of the life boats. "Dualscar, was right. You all are a bunch of pussies…. I am going alone then…" she yelled getting in the life boat.

"Wait…" the doctor shouted emerging from the crowd of sailors. "I am going with you. He might need medical attention," he stated getting in the life boat with her.

The two were lowered into the water and began paddling in search of Mindfang's ship, luckily the fog had finally thinned out some and the waters were much clearer. Vriska looked around intently for the evil ship as she paddled furiously through the sea. After a bit she pulled out Ahab's crosshairs from the water frowning as she slowly slung it over her shoulder. The doctor sighed looking over at her as he helped paddles, giving her a small pat on the back. She looked back at him frowning some, obviously entirely upset with the entire situation.

"Thanks…" she muttered.

"For what?" the doctor asked.

"Having my back," she sighs.

"No problem, I also came for my own reasons as well…" he stated.

"Oh yeah? What?" she asked.

"I want clues on what happened to my matesprit," he sighs.

The two grew silent and went back to the work of paddling across the water. In the middle of the night they finally found the ship of the evil woman still and not in motion. They tied up their boat to the side of the ship and managed to slowly climb their way on deck without being seen. The doctor pulled a small pistol from his coat and had it ready at hand to shoot if needed. They got in below deck looking for the brig in the bowels of the disgusting ship. Finally they found the holding cells, seeing Dualscar chained up in one of the cells.

Vriska ran up to the cell looking in with a frown. "Dualscar…" she whimpered.

He was out cold and covered in his own violet blood, one eye tightly closed due to blood that was streaming down in it. His hands were bound by chains in the floor and he was stuck in a kneeling position. Mindfang had taken the liberty of cutting open each little scar he had, which was a lot. Vriska whimpered reaching through the bars and placed a soft hand gently on his cheek. The doctor starts looking around for a way to get his Captain out before there was a loud bang, and a blood curdling scream that followed with him falling to the floor. Mindfang stood in the hallway holding a smoking sawed-off shot gun that was pointed at the doctor, whose arm was blasted off his body.

"Well well look what I caught in me we8," Mindfang laughed.

The blast woke up Dualscar who looked at Vriska in shock and then at the doctor who was clutching his nub that was spurting crimson red blood. Vriska stood up looking at Mindfang grabbing Ahab's crosshairs and pointing it at her. She backed up against the bars of Dualscar's cell and growls her finger going over the trigger. The doctor looked at Vriska with a look that said 'do it'.

"Ye aren't going to do it," Mindfang laughed.

"Yes I will," Vriska yells about to pull the trigger but her finger stopped.

"It is so easy to get what I want," she laughed stopping Vriska with her powers.

Mindfang grinned maniacally walking up to Vriska pulling her saber from her holster and yanking Ahab's cross hairs from her hands. She kicks Vriska in the stomach making her slam into the bars and slide onto the ground. The doctor gripped his pistol with his one arm and pointed it at Mindfang shooting her in her upper left arm. She snarled in slight pain and turned her attention to the doctor slicing his other arm off with Vriska's saber.

"What did you do to my matesprit?!" he yelled, screaming some in pain.

"If she is as pathetic as ye, I don't remem8er her," she laughed.

"She was an olive blood. You stole her from my arms," he growls.

"Oh yeah….. I remem8er ye and that weak little girl… I sold that girl after my crew got 8ored with her," she cackled.

"You twisted bitch!" he screamed.

She rolls her eyes scoffing, "Yeah yeah. I've heard it all."

She grips the hilt tightly and swings the sword over her shoulder before slicing the doctor's head off. His bloody corpse collapsed, his head rolling across the floor. Vriska screamed in horror as she watched her friend get murdered. Mindfang smirks stepping towards Vriska grabbing her by her hair and yanking her up. Dualscar lunges forward, only to be stopped by the chains that bounded him.

"Leavwe her alone Mindfang!" he yelled.

"I don't think so," she giggles.

She rips the amour from Vriska's clothes, leaving her in just the thin under gown the armored dress had. Vriska struggled and fought against Mindfang as she did this, even managing to pull out chunks of the woman's hair. The beldam couldn't help but laugh at the struggling girl as she tossed her in the cell across from Dualscar. She tossed the disembodied head in with Vriska as well, and slammed the cell shut, locking it. She just grins walking out of the cell room leaving the two alone locked up, with a dismembered corpse of their friend lying in the hall. Vriska tears up cowering in the corner of the cell as far away from the head as possible.

"Vwriska…" Dualscar muttered looking at her then the body.

"He is dead…" she mumbled.

"Ye twvo came here all by yerself to savwe me?" he asked.

"Yeah… no one else wanted to come," she whimpered.

"Vwriska… evwerythin' is gonna be okay… Wve… wve wvill get outta here… I swvear!" he tells her.

She tears up whimpering, "This is all my fault…. I … I should have left when we made port a month ago…"

"No Vwriska…. This isn't yer fault. It is mine, I wvas the fuckin' idiot that got ye stuck in this… I should have just let ye go back at port but I just had to convwince ye to stay…" he sighs.

She looks over at him and huffs, "No Dualscar… I wanted to stay."

"Wvhy?" he asked.

"Because the time I spent with you on your ship was the best time of my life… Dualscar… you are like my best friend… You actually took the time to get to know me. You mean a lot to me," she muttered.

"I am yer best friend?… Ye really mean a lot to me too… Vwriska… I wvant ye to be my moirail… Please?" he states looking into her eyes. "I don't wvant to loose ye from me life… Ye are one of the good ones in this fucked up wvorld."

She sighs smiling weakly at him, "Yeah… I will be your moirail."

He smiles back some. "Thanks… I need a good friend like ye around."

"Yeah especially after all this shit," Vriska scoffs.

"Wvell I knowv yer a real friend. A real friend does wvhatevwer they can do to help their friends out. Ye showvin' up here to savwe me wvithout back up wvas a pretty fuckin' bravwe movwe. Ye havwe me utter respect Vwriska… Not just anyone gets that," he stated that.

"Oh yeah?" she replied.

"Yeah, all me other men are all fuckin' pussies about this. They hate Mindfang, and unlike ye, most of them havwen't evwen suffered her wvrath at all. They are only scared because of wvhat they heard," he stated.

"I called them pussies too. They wouldn't even give me any help to come and save you… I mean you are their Captain, they don't even have enough respect for your well being," she growls.

"Fear ovwer comes respect… Ye can't be pissed at them… They havwe wvalnut brains," he chuckles.

"Still, they should be loyal no matter what," she stated looking at him with sympathetic eyes.

"At least ye are loyal to me… and I couldn't ask for anythin' more," he chuckles.

"Maybe getting out of here and back to your ship would be something to ask for," she mutters.

"Yeah," he sighs.

Vriska slouches against the wall and looks over at the bloody head of the doctor that had the look of pure anger just staring straight at her. She pushes it away with her bare foot; her feet were bare because Mindfang took her boots as well. She shudders seeing the candy red blood on her foot, and did her best to wipe it off by smearing it on the floor. A crew member walked down to the brig with a large burlap sack and began collecting the body parts of the doctor throwing them in the bag as if the dead man was nothing more than putrid garbage. He appeared to be a new member, Mindfang picked up because Vriska didn't recognize him, and she knew Mindfang's crew pretty well.

He looked over at Vriska and grinned with a dark chuckle, "How is that head servin' ye?"

She looked at him sadly then back down at her friend's head remaining quiet.

The man groaned, "Don't gimme that fuckin' look."

Dualscar snarls, "Come on asshat! Can ye at least take the head out of there for her? That is her friend right there. No one deservwes that…"

The man grunts looking around, "Fine… toss it to me, girly."

She scrunched her face in disgust picking up the doctor's head and throwing it to him. She whimpered some, "What are you going to do with him?"

He caught the head in the bag and chuckles a little, "Knowing Mindfang, she is going to make us cook it up and eat it. Wouldn't be the first time…"

The man ties up the bag and walks off with a pitiful smile dragging it behind him, a blood trail following him. Vriska sighs looking down at her hands, which were raw and blistered from paddling all day, and she wiped the blood off her hands on her under gown dress. Dualscar sighs his fins drooping some as he looks at the broken expression on the girl. He moves himself to lie on his side, to be in a more comfortable position. She curls up in the corner resting her head on the wall of the ship, her body moving with the swaying motions of the waves.

"Try to get some sleep okay?" he muttered. "No use stayin' up and wvastin' energy."

"Yeah okay," she sighs closing her eyes.

Dualscar did the same and within a few hours the two of them were sleeping, both heavily exhausted. The dreams were nothing near pleasant for Vriska, and Dualscar had no dreams at all, only pitch darkness, which was common for him under times of stress. The wake up for them was far more than unpleasant as the door to the brig slammed open before being slammed shut and locked. Though the noise wasn't what woke them it would be the person who caused it to be the one. He grinned wide with twisted fangs wiping off some white powder from under his nose. He whistled 'Twisted Nerve' as he took long dragged out steps as his steeled toed boots clicked on the wood. He stopped in front of Dualscar's cell and grinned wide looking in at the man, who was passed out with a distorted face of tensed sleeping. He gave Dualscar a welcome waking by pissing on his face, causing the sea dweller to sit up growling and shaking his face, spitting and gagging.

The first mate chuckled, "Wakey wakey."

Dualscar growled about to say something but just grew quiet watching the evil man. The cruel man then turned his attention to the sleeping girl who was curled up in the corner of her cell. He unlocked the cell door and stepped in closing it behind him. He grins crouching down beside her and leaning in close to Vriska's sleeping face. Dualscar snarled lunging forward, only being stopped by the chains that bound his arms to the floor.

"Don't ye dare do anythin' to her," Dualscar hissed.

The evil man looks back and chuckles, "What are ye gonna do?"

"I wvill gut ye open wvith me bare hands, and let ye choke to death in yer owvn blood," he snarls.

"Ye are all tied up old man…" he laughed.

He turns his attention back to the girl and runs his hand up her bare leg until he reached the dress that was crumpled up half way up her thigh. He then trails his hand from the top of the dress and up her neck to her soft cheek. The cold hand on her cheek woke her up in a shocked jump, and her eyes shot open. Her pupils dilated at the sight of the familiar first mate who had an awfully pleased smirk across his face. She tried to back up away from him but she was already in a corner so there was no where to run.

He chuckles at him. "Welcome back, my Sweet~ I am in charge of ye and let me tell ye…" He leans in pressing his lips to her ear to whisper in it. "I missed yer soft sweet skin so much~"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

8ringing Out The Dead

"GET THE FUCK AWVAY FROM HER NOWV, YE SICK SONVWABITCH!" Dualscar screamed.

The first mate smirked pulling Vriska up to her feet and holding her in his arms close to him. He turns them to where they are both facing Dualscar his hands roaming Vriska's body. His lips met the flesh of her neck starting to kiss, lick, and bite; his eyes fixated on Dualscar's furious expression. The girl whimpered and tried to struggle against him but he quickly grabbed one of her wrist twisting it behind her back causing her to hiss in pain.

"LEAVWE HER ALONE!" The Orphaner snarled.

The first mate just smirks chuckling, "Look old man… There is nothing ye can do."

His hand, that wasn't grabbing her wrist, came up hiking her dress up some as it traveled to her breast giving it a rough squeeze. She snarled squirming against him as she tried to free herself to no avail. He gave a twisted fanged smirk to her before looking at Dualscar with a cocky expression.

"STOP! YOU FUCKIN' SICK TWISTED MONSTER," Dualscar yelled.

"Look ye may think I am sick and twisted, but all men are like this… All men have that primal urge they can't control when it comes to some women…" he chuckles.

"LIES! I wvould nevwer do that to any wvoman ever!" Dualscar retorted.

"Oh but let's say this sweet little meat is Mindfang. Just think of her as Mindfang, she looks just like her. Haven't ye ever wanted Mindfang under yer power? Squirming and struggling for her freedom as ye toyed with her?!" He laughed pulling down the top of Vriska's dress exposing her breasts. "Haven't ye wanted to hear her crying and sobbing showing pure weakness?! Having her beg ye to stop as ye took control of her?! Aren't ye tired of Mindfang's control? Her cocky and bitchy ways? This is just pay back… Don't ye want Mindfang to hurt?" he chuckled squeezing Vriska's bare breast.

Dualscar eyes widened in horror gasping, "She isn't Mindfang! She is a good girl, don't do this."

Vriska looks away from Dualscar, cerulean tears streaming down her face, ashamed that he is seeing her like this. The first mate just grins pulling down the rest of Vriska's dress, leaving her just in panties. She squirmed more, the situation was bad and the fact Dualscar was stuck watching it happen was worse. He looks at the Orphaner laughing as he ripped off Vriska's remaining garment, exposing her entirely, followed by his hand undoing his pants. Dualscar screamed and yelled, fighting to get free from his restraints before his eyes widened as he heard a spine chilling scream as the first mate took Vriska by force. Tears welled up in his eyes as he watched this happen before shutting his eyes tightly and looking away still able to hear her screams.

Although the darkness behind his eyelids helped him not focus on the horror going on that was breaking his heart, he couldn't imagine the whole situation away because all he heard were grunts and muffled screams. He grits his teeth in angered and balled up his fists snarling in sadness and fury. Each passing second felt like an eternity, and after ten minutes the grunts and screams finally stopped followed by sick laughter and a thud on the floor. Dualscar opened his eyes seeing Vriska sobbing on the floor, trembling in a huddled ball. The first mate grins evilly giving her exposed rear a harsh painful slap, his other hand pulling up his pants up.

"I missed that sweet body of yers," The first mate laughed.

Dualscar growled, "I am goin' to kill ye."

"Doubt it," the first mate chuckles.

The first mate steps over the sobbing girl buttoning up his pants as he walked out of the cell. He slammed and locked it shut staring down at Dualscar before spitting in his face. The sea dweller hisses at him as the heartless man walks off leaving the brig. When he was gone Vriska reaches for her dress pulling it over her like a security blanket. Violet tears stream down Dualscar's cheeks as he looked at her, he broke his promise to her.

"Vwris…." he whimpered.

There was no answer from her.

"Vwriska… I am sorry… I… I am sorry… Oh fuck… I nevwer wvanted this… I… I am goin' to kill that man… I swvear… Please… Wve wvill get out of here and I wvill do evwerythin' I can to make ye happy again… Please… Hold on Swveetie," Dualscar whispered.

Again, Vriska didn't answer him only slowly managing to sit up and pull her dress on. She scooted over to the corner wrapping her arms around her knees and pulling them to her chest. Then she buried her face into her knees and arms where she proceeded to sob softly. Dualscar's fins drooped entirely and he sighed through his gills looking down upset with himself.

A day passes and Vriska hadn't moved from her corner at all, while Dualscar on the other hand did whatever he could to escape. It was pouring outside and a repeatedly harsh pitter patter of rain could be heard through the wood. Footsteps and the jingling of keys could be heard as someone descended down into the brig. It was the first mate again, with that cocky bastard grin across his face as usual. He smirks looking down at Dualscar through the bars of his cell, before unlocking it. He pulls out a hand saw and chuckles darkly.

"WVHAT THE FUCK DO YE WVANT?" Dualscar snarled at him.

The first mate laughs kicking Dualscar in the chest, "How often do ye get to have the Orphaner prisoner? I mean we both know ye ain't gonna last long so I asked Mindfang if it would be okay to saw off your horns as souvenir before yer demise."

Dualscar snarled, "And wvhat are ye gonna do wvith Vwriska?"

"Well, I think ye know that one. Ye aren't stupid. Mindfang said I can keep her, she will be like my little pet," he laughs.

"She isn't a fuckin' pet!" he screams.

He rolls his eyes and leans in putting the jagged blade of the handsaw to Dualscar's horn. The Orphaner grits his teeth with rage and leans in biting at the first mates calf ripping off a chunk of meat. The man screams out in pain falling back as he watched Dualscar spit out the flesh onto the cell floor. As he fell he dropped his keys which gave Dualscar the chance to pull them over with his foot. He managed to work them around to his back, where he could grab them with his chained hands and unlock the shackles that bound him. He gives a shark toothed grin and stands up looking over the wounded first mate.

The first mate grabbed his hack saw and growled standing up shakily, due to the chunk missing from his leg. Dualscar smacked his hand, knocking the saw across the floor and out of reach. The first mate backed up into the hall, until he bumped into the bars of Vriska's cell. Dualscar digs his claws into the first mate, tearing through his shirt and skin, his hand plunging into the guts of the man. A sick gasp came from the man's lips causing him to cough up jade blood as he felt himself being ripped open alive. Dualscar grabbed hold of one of his intestines and pulled it outside his body before tearing back in grabbing more of his entrails. He ripped out more of the man's insides dropping them on a pile on the floor in front of him. The first mate stares at Dualscar in horror, mouth ajar with death filled wheezing breaths escaping from his lungs in his trembling body as he slid down the bars and onto the floor.

The Orphaner spits on him and snarls, "Got to hand it to ye… I thought ye wvould of passed out or died by nowv…. That is okay… Only makes the next part more fun."

Dualscar crouched down in front of the man and his pile of guts, which were still attached to the inside of his body, and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He balled a jade covered fist and with full force and speed let it meet his face. The sea dweller grits his teeth and hit the man in the face over and over with a force so powerful it felt as if he was being hit with a train. He kept punching his face till the bones were cracking and caving in, till his nose crushed down into his face, till his jaw was displaced so far to the side, till all his fangs fell to the floor or down his throat, and till one of his eyeballs fell right from the socket and was dangling from his battered skull by the optic nerve, that's when he stopped. The face was unrecognizable only resembling a disgusting image that would haunt a wriggler's nightmares for an eternity.

Dualscar let out a loud sigh through his nostrils, flaring out his gills and fins, as he wiped the jade blood off on his shirt. His eyes darted over to Vriska who was looking up at him with tears welling up in her eyes that showed utter gratefulness. He grabbed the keys and unlocked her cell door, cautiously approaching her and lifting her up in his arms bridal style. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek softly with closed eyes. The tips of his fins and his face flushed a light violet as he looked over her, it was as if he was the heroic knight who just saved the damsel in distress like in one of those silly little fairy tales a lusus would read to its wriggler before bed, only those wouldn't be as graphic.

"Thank you, Dualscar," she whispered softly.

"Don't thank me, Lass… Let us get off this god forsaken ship… and wvhen wve get back to me ship I wvill pull out the wvash tub and drawv ye a nice hot bath. I don't wvant ye wvorkin' at all… I am gonna to pamper ye… I wvill let ye drink all me rum and smoke all me tobacco too, until wve get back to shore wvhere I can personally escort ye to the safety of yer hivwe," he stated beginning to walk.

"Dualscar, I am fine. It isn't the first time this has happened," she whispered.

"That only makes me wvant to pamper ye more… No one deservwes that," he replied.

He carries her up to the main hallway setting her down to her feet beside him. He gently grabs her small hand and walks down the hall, stopping at Mindfang's door. He creaked open the door peeking in seeing no one in sight, so he and Vriska decided to enter. Dualscar scans the room smiling when he saw Vriska's saber on Mindfang's desk, he grabs it, and handed it to the girl. She unsheathed the blade from the holster and gripped the handle tightly with gritted teeth.

"Let's go…" she stated with a slight snarl as she slid the sword back in its holster.

Dualscar huffs, "Yeah… I guess she has Ahab's cross hairs."

"We just need to get a life boat and get out of here…" she sighs.

"Yeah but once wve are on deck wve gotta run… that's probably wvhere evweryone is…" he states

She nods and walks out of the room with him heading to the door that lead out on deck. Dualscar stepped in front of her and grabbed the door knob slowly opening it. It was a down pouring outside and Mindfang's crew was scrambling about getting to work on loading cannons. Dualscar scanned the area spotting the life boats before he pulled Vriska behind him in a protective manner as he stepped out on the deck. He quickly pulled Vriska along as they ran to the life boat; unfortunately crew members started noticing and called for Mindfang. The beldam runs out on the deck aiming Ahab's crosshairs at the two of them.

"Where the hell are ye two fucks going?" Mindfang snarled.

"OI! Gimme me crosshairs ye putrid bloody cod piece!" Dualscar yelled.

"Ye want it. Here… Take it!" Mindfang yelled pulling the trigger letting out a blast of energy at the two.

Dualscar dove to the ground holding Vriska in his arms as they almost got hit by the blast which left a scorching hole in the railing of the ship and blasting the life boats to smithereens. The Orphaner stood growling in anger rushing at Mindfang, grabbing the front of the rifle with his hands. The two struggled over control of the weapon, growling and spitting in one another's faces in hatred. Vriska slowly stands coughing some from having the wind knocked out of her. Crew members approach her, some laughing due to remembering her back when she was _entertainment_ on the ship. She quickly unsheathed her blade and hacked off an arm off a crew member who was approaching her. She looks at Dualscar who was struggling with getting control over the crosshairs, because a crew member had come up and stabbed him in the side with a short dagger. Vriska snarled running toward Dualscar dicing through anyone who stood in her way. When she got to Mindfang and Dualscar fighting she growled raising her sword up and striking at the evil woman. Mindfang saw this coming and managed to dodge a fatal blow but was not quick enough to miss getting her left arm sliced off entirely.

She dropped Ahab's crosshairs screaming, "FUCK! YE 8ITCH! YE FUCKIN' 8ITCH! I WILL KILL YE, TILL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF YER EXISTANCE!"

Dualscar grabbed hold of Ahab's crosshairs, pulling it close to him as if it was his grub before swinging it over his shoulder with the strap. He grabbed Vriska's hand doing the same, wrapping a large arm around her waist and pulling him to her. Mindfang screamed holding her shoulder where her arm once joined in pain, cobalt blood spurting all over. The crew was swarming them now, and it was at the point there were too many of them for the two of them to handle. Dualscar hoisted Vriska over his shoulder and ran, barging through the men, to the edge of the ship. There were no life boats left so Dualscar grit his teeth and jumped over the edge plunging into the water below. The crew began shooting at them in a barrage of bullets, causing one of them to graze Vriska's shoulder. Dualscar dove down deep into the water starting to swim, holding Vriska to his chest, hoping she was good at keeping her breath. She whimpered after five minutes bubbles escaping her lips and floating up to surface.

Dualscar stopped swimming, looking at her face, which had her eyes clamped shut tightly to prevent stinging salt water from entering, being a sea dweller he didn't have that problem because of his second set of eyelids that protected him from salt. He lets out some bubbles through his gills, in resemblance to a sigh and swims to the surface as fast as he could. When the two busted through the surface of the water, Vriska gasped out loudly, breathing heavily in a fit. The sea dweller scanned the horizon seeing the rain had stopped and Mindfang's ship in the far distance, causing him to let out a sigh of relief.

"Wve did it, Lass," he says softly.

"We aren't out of it yet…We are still stuck in the middle of the ocean… I can't last long out here," she replies.

"I knowv, Vwris… Wve wvill get to shore…" he replies.

The two begin to swim steadily through the water, hoping shore wouldn't be too far away. Swimming through the open waters like this only brought back old memories for Vriska, at least she had Dualscar for company. She swam close to him just in case she needed his help, swimming with a sword and in a dress wasn't as easy as it seemed.

A few days pass out in the water, and the duo's spirits were becoming low due to starvation and lack of being dry. Dualscar could tell Vriska was especially weakened by this; she was reduced to lightly clinging to him. The sea dweller wasn't feeling all to well either; he needed to dress the stab wound on his side, it was raw and stung like hell from the salt water. Dualscar kept pushing forward holding Vriska close, and she kicked her legs as best as she could even though every muscle in her ached to do so. Though soon Dualscar's eyes widened at the sight of some land, the young girl couldn't see because her eyes were crusted shut to keep anymore sea water from getting in them, and once again she lost her glasses.

"Wve made it Vwriska! Wve made it," Dualscar cheered as he pulled them to shore.

Vriska instantly stood once she felt land underneath her feet and she wiped the crust from her eyes with a fist. Dualscar patted her back smiling wide before giving her a tight hug and a kiss on her forehead. As they started to walk on the beach they realized the beach wasn't composed of sand but a disgusting quagmire mud, which stank of rotten dead fish. Their legs sank down into the mud as they took their steps, being too heavy to stand without it giving way. Every time Vriska's leg sank down she jumped right back out with furious determination to get away, sometimes this resulted with a face plant. Dualscar did the same, but being much heavier he had a harder time bouncing back out like she did, yet somehow he managed. Both just kept their eyes fixed down at their disappearing feet and legs as they pushed forward.

After thirty minutes of this struggled trudge through the muck they came across a metal sign that was knocked down. It read in bold letters, 'WARNING! QUICK SAND! ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!' Vriska looked up from the sign gasping as she saw a white sand beach in the distance with the bustling hurry of blurry figures of trolls playing on the beach. Dualscar looked out smiling at the sight of civilization, and his grin only grew as he saw the magnificent size of the Empress' palace some ways down the beach.


End file.
